Low fret removal for refret?

paulnb57

I have an old Framus neck, with extremely low frets (.3 of a mm) I feel confident enough to refret it, but how do I get the old frets out?

Theres almost nothing to grip with fret nippers....
Cheers!

WezV

can you get a fine blade under a corner .

I heat the frets with a modded soldering gun, then use a seam separation knife to get under a corner and make enough of a gap to walk it out with fret cutter

paulnb57

Possibly.....

paulnb57

Good Call! @WezV manged to get an edge up with a Stanley knife blade, all removed, neck straigtened and flattened with a sanding beam, new frets are in! Except the zero fret, figured I'd level the new frets and whatever removed will not be removed from the zero fret so it will be a bit higher....need to buy a sharper file and some superglue as belt n braces......enjoying this...

octatonic

I use the soldering iron and stanley blade approach as well.

WezV

paulnb57 said:

Good Call! @WezV manged to get an edge up with a Stanley knife blade, all removed, neck straigtened and flattened with a sanding beam, new frets are in! Except the zero fret, figured I'd level the new frets and whatever removed will not be removed from the zero fret so it will be a bit higher....need to buy a sharper file and some superglue as belt n braces......enjoying this...

That's what I normally do with zero frets if it's a normal fret.  They wear more than a normal fret so starting off slightly higher extends the life.

 I sometimes use a SS fret for the zero and install and level those ones along with the rest, but Thry are more of a tonal compromise.

its worth either widening the slot or softening the tangs for the zero, and use minimal glue ..... you want that one to be easier to remove

WezV

 A Stanley blade is okay, but A proper seam seperation knife works much quicker and is much safer for the fretboard. If you are doing a lot it's worth getting one

basically it has a wedge profile to the blade with no bevel on the cutting edge. It's a lot more rigid than a Stanley blade.  It's also great for removing fretboards

paulnb57

Good advice about the zero fret, cheers!