Do you luthiers use anything to saw your fret slots besides the hand saw that stewmac sells. i searched for 'fretsaw' on the net and i got a bunch of those jewelers saws. if you guys have any tricks, please inform me. i don't want to use a table saw blade, and would rather do it by hand.

Then hand fret saw it is. Stewmac also sells a miter box to go with it, along with fret templates.

Do you luthiers use anything to saw your fret slots besides the hand saw that stewmac sells.
Well, the lengths that some go to remarketing or renaming tools is laughable. A gent's or japanese (pull or back saw whatever) will do the job nicely and may even save you some money not having the word "fret" in the title of the product (not saying that the mitre box and saw that is sold isn't convenient or useful)... There is plenty of evidence that thousands of instruments were made prior to the advent of the so called "fret" saw... It's all woodwork, not a dark art :). Just do your research to make sure you know what you're buying (eg. blade thickness, kerf, TPI, strength and so on).

Yeah, try and find a japanese pull-saw with the same kerf as the Stew Mac blade. I bought the Stew Mac blade and I hated it. I finally smashed it to pieces a couple of months ago I hated it so much.

Yeah, try and find a japanese pull-saw with the same kerf as the Stew Mac blade. I bought the Stew Mac blade and I hated it. I finally smashed it to pieces a couple of months ago I hated it so much. Okay I found numerous places with pull saw with a net search, but none of them list the kerf which should be 0.023 inch. they all only list TPI. darn with all this frustration, im just gonna buy a LMI fret saw, thanks anyways guys.

I believe Lee Valley gives you kerf information on thier Japanese pull saws. Actually I just love walking around their store and drooling. I should just have my work forward my paycheques to Mr. Lee (http://www.leevalley.com/).

-Nate

I believe Lee Valley gives you kerf information on thier Japanese pull saws. Actually I just love walking around their store and drooling. I should just have my work forward my paycheques to Mr. Lee (http://www.leevalley.com/).

-Nate

I just received my Lee Valley catologues the other day. Boy do they carry some nice stuff.

I don't do business with Canada, sorry. Takes too darn long.

I bought a bunch of stuff from them when I first put together my shop, I don't think any of it shipped from Canada.

I don't do business with Canada, sorry. Takes too darn long.
Suit yourself. I drive by the main store (the first one in existence as well as their warehouse and manufacturing facilities (I believe Veritas tools are largely made in house)) every day heading to and from work. Any time I walk in there it's all I can do to keep myself from dropping a few hundred bucks. So far I've been lucky and gotten away with smaller purchases but I don't know how long my resolve can hold out.

-Nate

I managed to find a dozuki (japanese pull saw) that works with my fretwire. I actually brought a fret with me to the store, and tried out the various saws they had there. If there's some kind of woodworking store around where you live, you might be able to pull the same thing off.
I don't know what kerf size it is, but it works, and it cuts waaaaaaaaaaay faster than regular dovetail saws (which is basically what StewMac sells).

I bought this saw for installing wood floors. It's used for trimming door casings to allow room for the flooring. The handle can be reversed for left hand, right hand offset. It reads 15TPI/16pnt.
My micrometer is not here so I do not know the kerf but it is fine. 20 bucks at the lacal hardware store.:D
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