Smack Down

Last night I finished sanding. I did the whole thing up to 1000 grit. Beyond 600 didn't seem to do much except make it shiny.

The next step is to either start the finish or put in the frets. Well, I don't have any of the finish so I started on the frets.

The first part is pretty simple, cut the fretwire to length then use a special took to cut off the tang so the wire can go right over the binding. Then carefully put it in place, tap in the ends then smack it down... ok, hammer it lightly into place.


Here they all are in place.


Here's the cool tang cutting tool and a sample of what it does. I didn't have this when I made the last guitar and went through the trouble of cutting the frets with side cutters then using a file to make it smooth. This is a whole lot easier.


I then used some flush cutters to trim the ends.