Fret wire bending jig - UPDATED

vanlooy1

I want one!!!

normula1

My dear departed father in law would have loved that. Super workmanship

Jazzthat

PeteC said:

That looks like a work of art ! Fabulous 

I think , most of  tools for luthiers deserve top notch engineering as well as an artistic approach to make them .
In the end of the day , Luthiery is the art and perfection ( at least it should be !  ) .

TTony

vanlooy1 said:

I want one!!!

Is that viable @jazzhat?

I imagine that this is a labour of love, a quest for perfection, an engineering challenge ...

 or could it be commercially viable?

Jazzthat

TTony said:

vanlooy1 said:

I want one!!!

Is that viable @jazzhat?

I imagine that this is a labour of love, a quest for perfection, an engineering challenge ...

 or could it be commercially viable?

This is actually a good question @TTony .

Initially , this project started as a need ,  and later in the process became an ambitious challenge for myself to create something special , that would satisfy myself on every area of it .
At that point I was planning to get this available to more people and maybe even commercially .

Today , looking at it , I think I was a bit over enthusiastic and didn't realise the cost , time and probably the most important factor , quantity needed to make this profitable .

Having failed on previous attempts with my bosses ( making some luthiers tooling ) I don't think anyone would want to make this for such a small market , sadly .
To put this into perspective , those fret benders  would need to be made in batch of 500 . 
And that's a minimum to make it worthwhile and possibly not great income .

That's why in the end I had treated it as a hobby project  .

Anyone wanting to get involved  in making this happen commercially , I would probably be open to help .


On the good note , I can say that , I will have 6-7 units available at some point , with slightly different colour of screws and top knob. 

Possibly withing a month or a bit more as I am currently on furlough .

BahHumbug

Very nice

TTony

Jazzthat said:

Today , looking at it , I think I was a bit over enthusiastic and didn't realise the cost , time and probably the most important factor , quantity needed to make this profitable .

Not over enthusiastic - just focused, dedicated and determined to make something that looked really good as well as being effectively functional!
 

Hence me thinking that it was more a labour of love than an intended commercial venture.    Shame though - it is a thing of beauty.  Congrats on persevering and producing  it.

Jazzthat

TTony said:

Jazzthat said:

Today , looking at it , I think I was a bit over enthusiastic and didn't realise the cost , time and probably the most important factor , quantity needed to make this profitable .

Not over enthusiastic - just focused, dedicated and determined to make something that looked really good as well as being effectively functional!
 

Hence me thinking that it was more a labour of love than an intended commercial venture.    Shame though - it is a thing of beauty.  Congrats on persevering and producing  it.

It mostly was labour of love  

Jazzthat

Later on today , I shall take a photo of all the parts needed to build one like it

Jazzthat

So , this is what it takes to make one fret bender .
Couple of parts are assembled already , and cannot be taken apart .
On this particular fret bender I have used ceramic bearings for main drive and handle .
Elsewhere either hybrid bearings or abec 5 ( highest available on particular size and type ) .

Main drive wheel is made out of titanium and so are top M6 bolts and one at the end of handle .
Body is made out of solid aluminium ( aircraft specs) .
All 4 bolts for front bearings , brass insert for main wheel drive and handle  are made from brass .
And all other metal bits made out of 304 and 316L ( 2 front wheels for straightening ) stainless steel .

TTony

Love it!

Precision engineering, bet it feels great to use?

Congrats again on a great piece of work, sir.
  

PhilKing

it looks like a piece of art.  You have really thought this through and come up with all the options.  

Jazzthat

TTony said:

Love it!

Precision engineering, bet it feels great to use?

Congrats again on a great piece of work, sir.
  

Thanks again @TTony ; .

Jazzthat

PhilKing said:

it looks like a piece of art.  You have really thought this through and come up with all the options.  

Pretty much all options , maybe apart from one .
I was considering making electric fret bender with a motor built in etc .
Unfortunately I have zero knowledge and experience with electric motors and PCBs .

Jazzthat

I have recorded a short video to show it in action . 
Never done any YouTube uploads so don't kill me

Jazzthat

I was a bit lazy and have used straightening wheels for bending wire too . 
Ideally though if you just bend a wire , solid wheels are better and won't leave any witness mark on smooth surface of a fret wire .

TTony

Torturer!

Jazzthat

TTony said:

Torturer!

axisus

Bloody hell!!!!! Amazing!

Sarge

Stunning! hats off to you sir!