Pex657 Posted February 3, 2005 Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 (edited) Is the arbor all that is needed to fret a guitar(other than glue, files, cutters and other small mundane things)? I thought that the arbor press bends them for you and puts it in place, then all you have to do is just sand and then level to finish. Edited February 3, 2005 by Pex657 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nollock Posted March 15, 2005 Report Share Posted March 15, 2005 In case any in the uk is interested you can get those cheap presses from axminster. http://www.axminster.co.uk/category.asp?cat_id=208228 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CudBucket Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Jay, I'll be building this arbor this weekend. I'm going to be using hardwood though. I'll post pics when it's done. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Is the arbor all that is needed to fret a guitar(other than glue, files, cutters and other small mundane things)? I thought that the arbor press bends them for you and puts it in place, then all you have to do is just sand and then level to finish. ← You'll need an arbor press with a 3/8" hole into the ram, so that it will accept the Stew Mac Fret Caul system if it's gonna be used. A standard arbor you buy doesn't have the 3/8" hole drilled into it, so you'll have to either do it yourself or get your local machinest to do it for you. It shouldn't cost much and you'll still end up cheaper than Stew Mac's. As far as it being all you need to fret.. ahh .. wish it was that simple. You can't press straight fretwire into the fingerboard without the ends popping up, even with using an arbor press. The strength of the wire will cause it to push up. So really you need some way to bend the fretwire to a slight over radius of your fingerboard like here. I bought one off the internet from a guy named woodenspoke off of ebay. Here is a link for one he is selling on Ebay. Here is a picture of me using it. The tools doesn't stop there either, but a great start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted April 11, 2005 Report Share Posted April 11, 2005 (edited) I just use my drill press.... jay5 how did you cut the 1/8" stock? I couldn't cut it so I just layerd like 15 layers of thin gutter aluminium. And I also made the fret bender per jay5's plans. you rock dude! You saved me alot of money! Edited April 11, 2005 by Godin SD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted April 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2005 I just used a combination of jigsaw and hack saw to cut the material. It takes a little time but its not too bad. I am glad you had success with the fret bender. Does the arbor seem strong enough with the thin stock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted April 11, 2005 Report Share Posted April 11, 2005 o ya. It's really strong. I did 3 layers of it insted of 1 layer of the 1/8" stock. It was harder to build having to deal with 15 layers and trying to drill through it and everything... for the part that goes into the drill press I used a bolt that was oversized and ground two flat spots on one end to make it fit into the aluminium thingy and so the drill bit wont just slip off it when I drill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donald k wilson Posted April 11, 2005 Report Share Posted April 11, 2005 Hey Jay5 I came on over. I was thinking about building one of these so already we have a success... Thanks for the invite, I'll see if I can get a post up on the archtop project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted April 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Hey Donald, welcome! Glad you fountd this thread of some use. Wait til you guys see Donalds archtop project. Its really cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Is this the same Donald doing the archtop on a cnc over on the MIMF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted April 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Is this the same Donald doing the archtop on a cnc over on the MIMF? I believe it is, yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donald k wilson Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I got lost... Yes, I'm the one with the cnc archtop. As soon as I get better organized I'll do a post here. dkw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexybeast Posted April 26, 2005 Report Share Posted April 26, 2005 Thank you thank you thank you!!!! I'm always looking for inexpensive ways to get things done and this looks like a winner. Dig it, Jay5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted April 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 Thanks man, I also have a post about a 15$ fret bender you might want tocheck out. Beats $80 at Stew-mac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nasbido Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Does anyone have the photos from this thread? thanks, ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherokee6 Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 I can't seem to get them either. Nice idea. If you have access to a TIG welder, you can weld the round stock on. Anyone into aircraft or a machine shop may have access to one. By the way, there are a lot of good, used arbors on ebay going for about $15. Shipping will be alot, but then it will also be high from any mail order place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted May 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2007 Sorry about the pics. I put them on photobucket but I must have mooved them or my account expired or somthing. Search "jaysguitarpics" on photobucket, they might be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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