Now we can work on the neck. Actually, I did this while the glue was drying on the ribs ... Here are the tools and materials for the first step, installing the frets. Actually the hammer is used for only one of two methods described in the instructions: I will illustrate both.
Note that the hammer has plastic faces, so as not to mar the fret, and the size of the face is small, so as not to mar the fretboard surface. This hammer I found at a craft/hobby/stamp store. To hammer in the fret, hold the fret upright in the slot and tap gently from one end to the other. Upright is very important! The tang of the fret (the part that goes into the slot) must be vertical. It's easiest to accomplish this (in my opinion) if you don't cut the fret to length until it is seated in the slot. A cut fret easily rolls over as you're trying to seat it. (unfortunately, in this picture you can't see this. See the next photo). Once the fret is enough into the slot that it stands up on its own, you can hammer more strongly to seat it all the way in.
If you have a drill press, this is another good way to install the fret. Chuck something with a blunt end, like a socket driver, into the drill press. Push the far end of the fret down into the end of the slot, and lower the rest of the fret to sit in the slot. verify that it is standing up straight! Then lay a scrap piece of hardwood over the fret and push down on it with the drill press, moving from away to toward you.
Cut off the remaining fret wire. The cutters must be well-made professional-grade cutters. Something designed to nip wire a la Radio Shack is not capable of cutting frets. Hold the cutters with the opening perpendicular to the surface of the fretboard and cut as close to the edge of the board as possible. Now or later, trim the other end of the fret in the same way, if it sticks out at all. Cutting off the fret wire will leave a sharp little bit sticking out; this comes off later.
One of these was hammered in, and one was pressed in. Can you tell which? Both methods are good. I presonally like the press method better -- for now. I may change my mind again.
Here's your new necktie!
Clipping off the fret ends leaves them sticking out. This shows how I cleverly epoxied a mill file to a piece of wood to use in the operation of filing down the fret ends. You don't need to do this; you can just use a plain file. The wooden part just makes it easier. You could buy something like this pre-made from Stew-Mac.
Carefully inspect each fret to make sure none of them is sticking up at the end or in the middle. if so, tap or press it back down.
Holding the file perpendicular to the surface of the fretboard, stroke the file all along the edge -- very lightly at first; the cut-off ends are sharp and can get between the teeth of the file holding it fast. glide the file lightly along the fret ends until this doesn't happen any more, then apply more pressure. If possible, make the motion go very slightly downward as well as along the frets. If the motion is upward at all, it can pull the frets out of their slots.
You can tell when all of the fret ends are safe when the resistance lessens and the grating sound ends. Then angle the file to about 45 degrees as shown and file until an angle appears on the fret ends all the way down to the surface of the fretboard. (below)
Here's what the fret ends should look like approximately. My angle here was a little off the 45 degree mark; it doesn't matter much. Run your finger lightly along the side of the board; if there is no bleeding, the frets are now safe. Check that none of the frets has pulled out of its slot; tap or press it back if one has. The end of any fret that has been tapped down should be checked again to see if it needs more filing. When filing down a single fret, use more of a downward motion to keep from raising it again.
If a fret pops up and won't stay down, you can wick a little thin superglue into the underside of the fret and apply clamping pressure for a minute or so. wipe excess glue from the fretboard and the top of the fret before clamping (you don't want to superglue your clamp to the fret!). Because you need to work fast to keep the glue from freezing the fret into its popped position, practice the clamping operation ahead of time and make sure the clamping device is right at hand when you start gluing. Because the glue sets quickly, I use a pair of pliers for this. You can apply it more quickly than any clamp, and you can easily hold it for long enough to let the superglue set.
After the glue has set, you might see a little squeeze-out on the surface of the fretboard. Very carefully sand this away with an emery board (the fingernail kind from the drugstore), working with the board flat across the fretboard and pushing it along the grain and into the fret. Use Follow up with the less-rough side of the emery board, and then use 180 grit sandpaper and progress up in grits until the area blends in with the rest of the fretboard. If it never gets there, you should use the oil as described later on.
The top surface of the carved neck was none too smooth. I didn't want to try to do too much with this, so as not to disrupt the geometry of the neck. I ran my sanding block over it a few times, taking great care to keep the board level both fore and aft and port to starboard.
Put a good layer of glue on the underside of the fretboard, and hold it in place
with some sturdy rubber bands, or with some of the long elastic from Stew Mac
that is sold for clamping.
Position the fretboard so that the last fret is right along the line of the end of the neck. The neck is wider than the fretboard on purpose. You will be correcting this in the next step. After the elastic is on, check that the overhang is equal on both sides and maneuver the fretboard until it is.
This shows the excess on one side of the neck.
trim off the excess neck material with a microplane or surform tool like this or a wood file or some 100-grit sandpaper stuck to a stick. Follow up with 12-grit sandpaper held around a firm yet soft block such as a chalkboard eraser, to restore the smooth curvature of the neck.
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