Fractal Fret Press

WezV

Just seen this on Instagram, looks very interesting so I am looking forward to see how much it costs.

It will automatically adjust itself to any fretboard radius

mrkb

There’s a great video about a fractal vice on YouTube by the myth busters dude. Well worth a watch about an amazing engineering concept.

https://youtu.be/NUhrF0xkhhc?si=D87_75cI2vT5KB3a

Jez6345789

That's interesting, there is a lot of brass in it so won't be cheap but might be handy tool to have or possibly to DIY.
If I can get my head around the concept.

SteveF

Looks very interesting.  What's the benefits of using a press over a hammer?  Do you risk denting the frets with a soft faced hammer? 

WezV

The main benefit of pressing is  it ensures consistency of the pressure applied.

Sporky

WezV said:

The main benefit of pressing is  it ensures consistency of the pressure applied.

Which - in my very limited compared to Mr V's experience - makes it far easier to put the frets in.

I just use the drill press attachment, but this does look cunning. Maybe overcunning, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

BillDL

Whenever I see something that's been well designed and made like this I begin to think of metal things that already exist and could be modified for use in assembling something that does the equivalent job.  In this case I'm seeing links from a motorbike chain just as I saw the bearing races in fidget spinners while looking at a manual fret radius winder thingy.  I made a hand press from a pair of large-jawed pliers and bought a couple of cheap cauls to use.  It worked OK, but I was constantly worried about denting the back of the neck even though I padded the jaw with leather, it was pretty hard on my hand muscles, and I had to use a hammer for the frets over the heel and body anyway.

Roland

WezV said:

The main benefit of pressing is  it ensures consistency of the pressure applied.

It also copes with compound radius fretboards, which a fixed radius caul in a pillar drill won’t.

WezV

Roland said:

WezV said:

The main benefit of pressing is  it ensures consistency of the pressure applied.

It also copes with compound radius fretboards, which a fixed radius caul in a pillar drill won’t.

That was a response to the question

What's the benefits of using a press over a hammer? 

Scavenger

Jez6345789 said:

That's interesting, there is a lot of brass in it so won't be cheap but might be handy tool to have or possibly to DIY.
If I can get my head around the concept.

Brass is worth about £3.50 a kilo , there's a fraction of that there. The cost will have more to do with complexity of production.

WezV

Price is out $289.

Might be a bit rich, but hopefully it gets picked up by one of the big boys and economy of scale brings the price down.

guitargeek62

Just wait for the AliExpress version  

Sporky

Ouch.

Though I can see why it's not cheap, especially in small batches. And it'd probably pay for itself for some builders.