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Frets. Do you hammer or press?

ON the ONE

ON the ONE

Nov 20, 2010
327
31
Maine
#1
I'd like to get some thoughts on hammering versus pressing in frets.
I have done both and they each have their merits, which do you prefer and why?
For those who press, what do you use as a neck support?
I ask because I just did 3 fret jobs in two weeks and I need to streamline the process.
 
#2
I press wherever I can and hammer otherwise. I find that the seating is more consistent accross the length of the fret with a press.

I use the "Jaws" press from Stu-Mac that looks like a demented Vise-Grip, so it sorta has its own neck caul/support. Since I only do the occasional re-fret, I've never had to streamline the process much.

If I were to step into more work, I'd probably use an arbor press as my go-to method. The tactile feedback from an arbor press, IMO, would give a lot more control than a hammer. That may just be because I don't use the hammer often enough! For a neck support, I would just use a neck caul I milled from a block of cherry years ago that I lined with a layer of cork. That's what I use with the hammer.
 
#3
I prefer hammering, as many who have been doing this as long as I have(or longer) usually do. I also press fret, but find I have a better feel for how the fret seats than with the press. Also, I think the seating difference is between pressed and hammered depends much more on technique than approach. Not everyone is good at hammering frets, as with many older techniques of the craft, technology has brought easier approaches.

As for the neck support, I use a 12" tapered. Neck caul I made specifically for fretting.

Not sure what you can do to streamline the process, it's pretty simple and straightforward. Bend, cut, install, clip, file, bevel, level, crown, finish, polish, done.;)
 
#4
Musiclogic said:
Also, I think the seating difference between pressed and hammered depends much more on technique than approach.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. The only reason I don't have a better feel for hammering is that I only do the occasional fret job. If I spent as much time with a fret hammer in my hand as a full-time luthier does it would be a whole different ball of wax.
 
#5
I hammer my frets for 2 reasons:

1: a quality fret hammer cost me less than 30$ and even the cheapest press setup is several times that.

2: The majority of my instruments get a compund radius so the radius changes slightly from fret to fret and would require using more than one size caul and still hammering the frets to fully seat them.
 
#7
I used to press, but now hammer.

I do work on a variety of instruments and once I got over the prejudice I had for hammering and tried it I found that I quickly developed a love for it based on the tactile feel of driving frets. There is a feedback to the fretting process that isn't unlike playing. When you think about exactly what the hammer is doing as it drives the tang into the slot it becomes second nature to intuitively feel the process of driving and seating the fret effectively, at least for me.

It helps to have the neck positioned over a firm surface, I've used a sand bag and also use a curved cork padded hardwood block. The feel doesn't really change all that much as long as the neck is firmly supported.
 
#15
until now i hammered the frets in... and i did a lot of necks new and re-fret...

i used the glue-less method as have epoxy and super glue... i always use and prefer glue its just better... but i saw that if i use super glue i have to do lots more levelling cuz some times the glue grabs the fret just short of it being full in!!!

next time i will try to fret with epoxy (half hour at least)... if that wont work good i will use longer time epoxy and additional press over the frets with the radius block to make sure that they are all down to the fretboard evenly...

for me the bottom line is hammering frets in just feel better... and it shows the skill you have not to any one else but to your self... if i get it right i know i got it... if i don't then i need to address why... usually is because its been long time since the last fretting job or i was just rushing it...
 
#16
"but i saw that if i use super glue i have to do lots more levelling cuz some times the glue grabs the fret just short of it being full in!!!"

Yes, that happens. What I do to prevent it, is to apply the super glue after I know the frets are well seated. I use a small pipette that stewmac sells and let a little drop or two touch the side of the fret, (with the board upside down,) then cappilary action takes the glue all over the lenght of the fret. Works like a charm.
 
#17
Ugh, you guys and your dang glued in frets! I don't mind the CA approach because it just evaporates when you heat the frets for a refret, but epoxy can lead to a whole new fretboard depending on how it's been done.

Please consider the lowly repairguy who will be doing a refret in the future! There's really no reason to seat frets with glue on a new instrument if your technique is dialled in... :)
 
#18
Wow never had to glue a fret either, never had a problem with the tangs sticking in the slot, maybe that's an advantage of using the press?

Or perhaps it's the fingerboard woods I use that just hold it fine.

What boards are you folks gluing? And what size/kind of frets do you think need gluing?
Just curious.

Cheers,
Dirk
 
#20
Beej said:
Ugh, you guys and your dang glued in frets! I don't mind the CA approach because it just evaporates when you heat the frets for a refret, but epoxy can lead to a whole new fretboard depending on how it's been done.

Please consider the lowly repairguy who will be doing a refret in the future! There's really no reason to seat frets with glue on a new instrument if your technique is dialled in... :)
Click to expand...

what is the CA approach???

the fact that i repair instruments is why i use glue... every time i put new strings on guitars that had the regular frets put in dry i have to hammer in a few frets every time!!! and any time climate change the frets are a mess... i even seen so called pros with more than 20 years of experience put them in the old fashioned way and i had to reinvent the wheel when i got their brand new instruments in for the first set-up ;)

i am open to new suggestions on what other glue to use... so that no one would have problems refreting in the future...
 

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