Official Luthiers Forum!

Hai... I need answer... I'll glue the fretwire, should I use epoxi cement or can I go with epoxi steel-filled heavy duty??? And gluing for the fretboard what should I go with???
tq tq tq....

Why do you want to use epoxy on your fret wire? This should be done only if needed, and then only as a last resort.

You can use any good wood glue or epoxy to glue the fretboard down. I use Fishglue or LMI white or Titebond. I have not used epoxy. Some use epoxy because they do not like to add moisture at that step. I have not had a problem with that.

_________________
"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

I have probably 10 different types of epoxy on hand at a given time. I would use WEST 105 plus hardener of choice for the fingerboards, and I would use WEST, or DEVCON 5 minute for frets, IF. But I Titebond fretboards, and don't as yet glue frets. I would glue round bar frets, but I never actually have got around to it.

WEST 105 is one of the most wide range products there is (particularly if you are using it with wood), but that can also leave whole crafts with still no reason to use it (or similar products), so at the end of the day you have to dig down into your specific needs, as you are doing. Remember to work clean and not get this stuff on your skin.

I smear some titebond in the fret slots before I seat the frets. Its not to hold them in rather to help prevent tear out should I ever have to remove any of the frets in the future. I also use Franklin Titebond to glue down the fretboard. I like to have the frets bite into the slots and that is what keeps them there rather than an oversized slot that needs to have glue to keep the fret there.

_________________
http://www.sixgunguitars.com

In the case of the round bars they weren't supposed to require repair, since they were hard. For normal frets, I think you need to be one of those guys who hits everything with an iron. And the results are going to be toxic. Some epoxy is incredibly resistant to heat though. I made a golf club once, and the shaft went. The stub was so hard to get out, and the heat got so high, that the head finally went off like a roman candle when the heat cause a simultaneous combustion of all the epoxy.

It would be possible to use a release on the fret wire before putting it in. I don't use glue on my frets, but I think I have seen or read stuff were it seemed popular in certain circles.

tq tq tq...... thank's friends... herry tze

What is your fretboard material?

If it's super hard wood, you make accurate grooves, and you pre-bend the fret wire well there shouldn't be much need for glue when fretting.

On softer woods I use a low viscosity epoxy and lay it down into the groove with a syringe and a tiny needle that I've ground the sharp tip off. But I don't recommend this unless you have found the right epoxy for this. Some epoxies are toughened, some are not. I use one that has characteristics that make it a little bit brittle...which allows it to crack and break when removing frets. If not for this I'd worry that trying to remove a fret glued in with toughened epoxy would result in a bunch of tear-out.

_________________
I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic