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  #1  
Old 01-06-2021, 06:10 PM
Quickstep192 Quickstep192 is offline
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Default Hammer for setting frets

I'm going to treat myself to a small soft face dead-blow hammer for fretting. I'm considering two sizes; 3oz or 9oz. Which would be the better weight for fretting?
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Old 01-06-2021, 06:18 PM
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bnjp bnjp is offline
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I bought a 12 oz one that seems about right. So i would say 9 oz between those two.
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Old 01-06-2021, 06:31 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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My fretting hammer is 4oz and I think its a bit on the overkill side.

This is not to persuade you, I have fretted hundreds of guitars with just a hammer, a far superior result is achieved pressing frets in rather than hammering them in.

Steve
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Old 01-06-2021, 06:36 PM
Quickstep192 Quickstep192 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mirwa View Post
My fretting hammer is 4oz and I think its a bit on the overkill side.

This is not to persuade you, I have fretted hundreds of guitars with just a hammer, a far superior result is achieved pressing frets in rather than hammering them in.

Steve
I have a press too, but of course there are frets the press can't reach. Unless there's another press you know of that I don't (which is highly possible!
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Old 01-06-2021, 06:51 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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I have a press too, but of course there are frets the press can't reach. Unless there's another press you know of that I don't (which is highly possible!
https://www.guitarbuilding.solutions...t-press-system

Made in England, one of the best acoustic guitar presses I have ever used, and I have close to a dozen different types of fret presses
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Old 01-06-2021, 07:38 PM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Quickstep192 View Post
I'm going to treat myself to a small soft face dead-blow hammer for fretting. I'm considering two sizes; 3oz or 9oz. Which would be the better weight for fretting?
I've used a small brass faced for years. I never liked soft-faced hammers and found the "dead blow" part is better served by the support under the neck. I pressed frets for a while and then realized a hammer gives you a lot more control in many different situations as opposed to simple brute force. A good small brass-faced hammer and you won't have to cycle through a dozen "presses".

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Old 01-06-2021, 07:58 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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Originally Posted by Rudy4 View Post
A good small brass-faced hammer and you won't have to cycle through a dozen "presses".
Some people do not cycle through presses, they use the best tools they can afford to do the job, I have employees and workstations, when all you can afford is a hammer - then everything looks like a nail, that is fine, that is your process.

A hammer serves a purpose just like a fret press does, if you are doing refrets on a commercial level and feel a hammer gives a better result setting frets then I feel the need to question that as that is opposite to what I find

Steve
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Last edited by mirwa; 01-06-2021 at 08:26 PM.
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Old 01-06-2021, 08:59 PM
redir redir is offline
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I've tried dedicated fretting hammers, dead blow hammers and some others but I always end up using my cobblers hammer like this one.

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Old 01-06-2021, 10:07 PM
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Bruce Sexauer Bruce Sexauer is offline
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I have always tapped in my frets. Currently, I use the mallet sold by most of our suppliers, with plastic on one side and brass on the other. I use the brass side. I also back up the neck, and the inside of the extension area, with a 2 lb chunk of lead. It is shaped like a neck support, small enough to go through the sound hole, cork backed where the neck sets, and otherwise complete taped up because, duh, it is lead. Without the lead, all bets are off. There are usable other materials beside lead, but gold is a bit steep for me, and tape won’t solve the additional issues with Uranium.
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Old 01-07-2021, 05:29 AM
Talldad Talldad is offline
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Clamping is definitely better for easy access frets but a hammer can also be useful. I made my own press by buying a parallel clamp and building a jig. Great and even results
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Old 01-07-2021, 08:17 AM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mirwa View Post
Some people do not cycle through presses, they use the best tools they can afford to do the job, I have employees and workstations, when all you can afford is a hammer - then everything looks like a nail, that is fine, that is your process.

A hammer serves a purpose just like a fret press does, if you are doing refrets on a commercial level and feel a hammer gives a better result setting frets then I feel the need to question that as that is opposite to what I find

Steve
I'm not trying to ruffle your feathers. I highly regard your opinion and enjoy all of your posts and the information you pass along.

Some people obviously DO "cycle through presses" before finding the one that suits their needs. I have used a couple of press options myself until I decided that the small brass hammer worked for all my fretting purposes and allowed me to have better control and feel for installing frets.

I don't have a production shop or employees so the hammer takes a very small portion of my shop space and doesn't really take all that long to drive a set of frets in.

I can afford pretty much anything I would like but the hammer is, for me, the best tool for the job. Everything doesn't look like a nail to me, it's simply the right tool for me.
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Old 01-07-2021, 08:38 AM
RoyBoy RoyBoy is offline
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I tried one of the deadblow hammers designed for the job (from LMII I think) and have gone back to the chasing hammer (like redir) I bought for a few bucks at the flea market many years ago.
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Old 01-07-2021, 11:20 AM
Frank Ford Frank Ford is offline
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We all work in our own ways, so take this as being nothing more than what works for ME:

I like a hammer that won't damage a fret or fingerboard, and I find that tapping the fret in many small sharp blows works best to seat them accurately. I counted an average of about 40 hits on each fret last time I checked

Pretty much forever I've uaed the Stanley 593. It's a small 4 0z. hammer with two clear yellow faces (7/8" diamteter). That hammer has been put of production for years, and is a favorite among the others in my shop.

I recently scored a few on eBay, along with some replacement yellow tips.

Before I got the notion of finding more of them on eBay, I contacted LMI about getting one of their fretting hammers with two plastic faces instead of one brass and one plastic. They said, "No problem, but we'd have to charge you less because the brass costs more."

That hammer worked out well and is about the same weight as my ol' Stanleys.
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Old 01-07-2021, 05:04 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rudy4 View Post
I'm not trying to ruffle your feathers. .
All good, yes I did take it the wrong way
Steve
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  #15  
Old 01-07-2021, 10:18 PM
tadol tadol is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mirwa View Post
, and I have close to a dozen different types of fret presses
Yow! And I thought I had a problem with capos!
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