Home Made Fret Press

[mike g]

I made this fret press and thought I would share it before I finish the neck making posts. I need to fret three necks so I broke down and made this press. It features 2 inch thich quarter sawn white oak. The whole unit is 21" long by 7-1/2 wide and weighs about forty pounds or more. I used a brick chisel for the press head. first I flattened and shaped the face of the chisel to accept the groove and then I ran a zip wheel over the face to get a groove to guide my file and finished the face with a small round file. The handle is I think from a snowblower or something. I said to myself, "one day I'll use those", and low and behold I used one. 

The rest is just drilling and shaping and bolting. not as easy as it sounds. for now I use vee blucks to hold the necks since the necks come off the bandsaw with a perfect beveled back, but I can easily make a block to hold fully shaped necks. It works like a charm and is much easier than hammering frets. You do still have to hammer in some of the higher frets though.