I never went to the soldering iron either until recently and I’m still undecided. For a long time I used the gas stove and a stainless butter knife. I could control the knife temp very easily and make a beautiful flat bulb on the gut end, too. Often the soldering iron gets too hot for me.
A candle with the knife on a stack of CDs/cassettes can work but be sure you have a low-to-zero soot flame or it _will_ get messy. Sean On Oct 23, 2016, at 4:13 PM, Dan Winheld <dwinh...@lmi.net> wrote: > Thank You Martin- yes, that's how it's done- basically- and Matthew has given > us a few good follow up tips as well. I haven't owned a soldering iron in > many, many decades- so it's the old match stick. cig lighter, flame-thrower > options for me as well. Nothing like the smell fried gut in the morning! > > Also check- or double check for low spots on the neck, esp. near the > fingerboard/body joint. Sometimes there are nasty surprises. On one of my > lutes, the highest fret was a toss-up (to the builder) for a tied 9th or the > first (optional of course) wooden fret. Came tied, which I prefer- but it's a > low spot that requires the thickest fret of all. Straight-edge on the > fingerboard and careful sighting in a good light are necessary here. > > Dan > > > > On 10/23/2016 12:48 PM, Matthew Daillie wrote: >> On 23/10/2016 18:32, Martin Shepherd wrote: >>> Hi All, >>> >>> A new video in the "tips" series - this time some help with tying frets: >>> >>> https://youtu.be/Qs_pXOoBVLU >>> >>> Best wishes, >>> >>> Martin >> >> Dear Martin, >> >> Thanks for the video. Without wanting to question anything you demonstrated >> I thought I might add a few points which I consider to be important. >> >> I think that it is advisable to have a set of fret gauges for a particular >> instrument (often supplied by the maker) rather than just measuring a fret >> to be replaced. Very often over time the diameters of frets change >> considerably (the gut generally absorbs humidity and becomes thicker) and >> even if one measures an old fret on the part that was sitting on the back of >> the neck, it is not necessarily the correct gauge for a replacement. It also >> imperative to measure thicknesses of new fret gut with a micrometer as they >> rarely correspond exactly to what the manufacturers note on the packet >> (especially if they have been stored for some time). Once the new fret is in >> place it is always good to check that there are no buzzes. >> >> To avoid the issue of scratching a varnished neck (or a plain fruit wood >> neck) with a knot, some people suggest using a slither of thin plastic taken >> from an old credit card or the like which can be put under the knot as one >> slides it into position. Some makers use a hard wood for the fingerboard >> edging which overlaps the neck enough to be able to place the knot on and so >> avoid damage to the softer wood on the neck. I have also noticed that it is >> advisable to put the running end of the fret through the knot in such a way >> as it comes out parallel to the burnt end. In this way one makes sure the >> knot lies flat and does not gouge a ridge into the neck. >> >> I try to place the new fret as close as possible to the fret below it (or >> the nut in the case of the first fret) so that when put into position it >> becomes tight enough (you suggest one centimetre lower than its final >> position which doesn't seem quite enough to me). >> >> I have never used a soldering iron to burn the ends of fret gut but find >> that good quality matches or a lighter with an adjustable flame are >> perfectly safe as long as one holds the neck of the lute horizontally so >> that the flame is above the part of the fret one wishes to singe and one >> proceeds by gentle touches using the base of the flame. >> >> One last thing. When passing the fret gut under the strings, it's good to >> check that no strings have been missed out before tying the knot. There is >> nothing more annoying than starting to move a fret into position and >> realising that a string has escaped your attention and is above the fret >> rather than below it! >> >> Best, >> >> Matthew >> >> >> >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> > >
