Couple of things.
1) Take a triangle file and file off the edges of the fret slot, rounding them off slightly, this will prevent chip out on a refret
2) You need a good dead blow backing when hammering in the frets. I use a beanbag that Stew Mac sells. Others will use a bag of buck shot or even a bag of cat litter if that is all you can find.
I believe it was Sloane who recommended that you add a few drops of water to the fret slot then hammer the frets in. I used to do that and it seemed to help. I use hide glue now but you don't need glue. I think you just need to really hit hard with the hammer. Don't worry about the space under the fret. You can just fill in the fret ends once you are done with black CA or epoxy or something.
For the slots over hanging the body of the guitar I always widen those out and use glue so that they tap nice and easy in. You don't want to crack the top of the guitar you just built. Taylor makes a nice device for this job but it's expensive. Others will hold a piece of metal inside the guitar to take the dead blow.
Of course you could just widen the slots too with a back saw. But if that's the case then you would probably want to glue in the frets too.
|