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I have question for all of you guitar builders, When you kerf the finger board for the frets, do you shave the barbs off of the frets, or just slightly bevel the kerf on both sides, tap it in and press it or what?

I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you going to have binding on the neck or a raw edge? I'd suggest to do a search on the internet for how to fret a guitar neck. You should be able to find information pertaining to your particular application. I've used at least three different methods for fretting a neck. For a bound neck I've nipped a notch in the fret tang so that the top surface over hangs the bind, then dress it according. I've installed frets and dressed the edge flush then applied the binding after which I shave the binding down and dress the edge to match the fret wire, this is the way Mosrites were done. On necks like a Fender, I simply insert the fret into the slot leaving an overhanging edge the dress it down flush with the fret board, then dressed the edge of the fret wire to the desired shape.

Hi dubtrub, thanks for the info, never thought of surfing the web for that type of info.

It depends on the neck. Sometimes you need to take the barbs off, Sometimes you don't. Glue is also an option... Fretting or refretting a neck can be very difficult at times. Beveling the fret slots can help a bit too. You could get Dan Erlewine's Fretting videos for lots of info, They're very helpful (But also expensive)

Austin

Yup, It sure is a pain, but I think I got it whiped, just got a call from Motor City Guitar, told me that my fretting material was in. It's going to be truth and justice time tommrow,were going to give a shot. Yeah, read a piece on fretting last nite, they were talking about setting them in epoxie, or super glue, and using baking soda for an excelerator. some guy went to trade school at gibson guitars in Spring Hill Tenn., said that the way they were tahght old school. Thanks fo the heads up on this task

There should be no reason to have to use glue or anything else when fretting for the first time. Cut the slot to the proper thickness and depth then press or tap the fret into the slot. The only time glue would be used is when the slot has been damage and the tang and barbs no longer grip in the slot tight enough to secure the fret.

1. Make sure you have the proper tools to cut the slots.

2. Cut a length of fret wire and form it to have the approximate curvature of the fretboard, then tapped the fret gently into the slot working across the fret.

3. Do a lot of research before trying to fret and make sure you have a complete understanding of the process. If you don't follow the above guidelines then, yeah, you're going to need glue plus have a mess on your hands.

dubtrub wrote:3. Do a lot of research before trying to fret and make sure you have a complete understanding of the process. If you don't follow the above guidelines then, yeah, you're going to need glue plus have a mess on your hands.

I can't stress that enough. I had fretting tools for weeks and weeks before I finally refretted an acoustic that I had lying around... I really wanted to make sure I was ready to fret a guitar!

Austin

If you have some extra money and you plan on building more than one guitar you might want to invest in the LMI Manual Slotting System http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Fretting&NameProdHeader=Manual+Slotting+System
I just bought it myself and it works very good ,definitely worth the money if you plan on building more instruments.

Here is some good information that may help guide you through the process. Although most of it is demonstrated with a specialized tool, for the most part you can improvise a decent substitute. http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Fretting.html

There's YouTube too...

If you do a search with "fretting a guitar" you'll find some instructional videos there.
Perhaps you may find it useful as a supplement to what others already have suggested