Ken Parker Archtoppery - Riff 007 Fret Ends

Here's a simple way to perfectly prepare notched fret ends for blind or bound fret slots.

[@kennywilkinson9270]

Ken Parker, a man who has spent endless hours studying, perfecting, innovating, and crafting instruments. We should all be reminded how fortunate we are to have people like Ken, who care about this craft as much as he cares about sharing it with others. These videos have taught me so much and made me think about thing from different viewpoints. The amount of time and energy Ken spends making these short format videos with such profession is a true gift to all of us guitar/luthier lovers. Thank you!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Wow, what a review! Thanks so much for your extravagant praise! I can't tell you how satisfying Archtoppery is for me. I credit Jimmy D'Aquisto as my inspiration for sharing my knowledge like this. As a 25 year old archtop building enthusiast seeking information and encouragement from older builders, he was one of only a few I contacted in the mid '70's who didn't tell me where to shove it. Instead, he was truly interested in me, encouraging me to develop my skills and not give up. I was thrilled, of course, as he was my hero! The other builders I found who were helpful and open were Tom Humphrey and Miguel Luciano, both then working in Manhattan. I learned a lot form all of them. I really believe in the idea that our field is strengthened by the open sharing of each builder's experience and discoveries, which is now an easy thing to www.accomplish. The idea that there are secrets to be protected just seems absurd. These things are so hard to build properly that the bar for excellence cannot be approached without considerable experience, which of course is non-transferable. What better than to enjoy the comradery and benefits of an open community?

[@mstecker]

I'm a long-time Parker owner who just happened to stumble across this looking for fret end dressing tips. I'm reminded of how whip-smart Ken is. The 'see through the cutting disc' trick is really really clever.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

You would be hard pressed to imagine my exuberant delight when I first applied the “slotted wheel” idea to this vexing, demanding job!! Not sure it’s so “whip-smart” as it is a result of obsession and desperation!! Thanks for the shout-out anyway, and I hope it helps make your fret jobs go more smoothly!

[@mstecker]

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Thanks for the note, Ken. Love your work.

[@CncObsession]

That is 1 hell of a process. I was sure that wheel would fly apart upon start up and especially on contact. Amazing.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

The wheel is pretty tough, and I've never had any real problem having used them this way for many years. If it did fly apart, would be unlikely to cause injury because it's very light. Always wear eye protection!

[@Iazzaboyce]

In 1980, I got a job learning how to make banjos, making a total workforce of 3 including the owner. We used to do this, but I can't remember what method we used. The owner was a lot like you always thinking of ways to do things easily and most of all precisely. I was thinking about clamping the fret into a loose tang slot on a hinged jig and dropping the jig/fret end onto the edge of a 6" fine grinding wheel. A simple machine screw could be used as an adjustable depth stop. Just an idea. Incidentally the owner was Alf Parker and we made Parker banjos.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

This is so cool! I looked Alf Parker up, and these look like very fine instruments. Of course there are lots of ways to remove a little material as you suggest. One commentator sent me a KZbin clip of someone who fashioned a fairly complex rig from plywood and cut the tang with a router bit. While the tool was cleverly designed, and seemed to make a good result, I can promise you that this kind of thing would only work on soft Nickle Silver frets, the kind I no longer think of as “best possible fret” material. Both the stainless fretwire now available to builders, as well as the hard bronze wire that I favor and use are too hard and tough to be cut this way. The router bit would complain, dull, and mess things up before many frets were cut, and a grinding wheel would load up with any of these materials, and so work fine for a time, and then fail to hold tolerance. I think that the way I demonstrate has numerous advantages, including creating a tiny hollow surface on the bottom, so as to make the fret end behave correctly and look perfect when driven. It it the only method I can envision to be able to do this, and the other ways , including filing by hand, are very likely to create the opposite curve, which is ugly and most definitely not pro work.

[@geoffcline9593]

Sharing is caring. Thanks for caring. A lot.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Hughdemeng It's truly my pleasure. This Archtoppery is mos def some covid-daze relief therapy for me. For unknown reasons Guitars have obsessed me all these years, and now that I finally know a thing or two about a thing or two, I'm delighted that fellow arch-nerds are tuning in!

[@lewissanter4210]

I'm pretty sure you showed me and TJ the split lap buffer/sharpener method for chisels in the early 90s, never would have thought of notching a Dremel disc. Thanks very much for sharing!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Lewis! The slots are magic in this application. Glad you're here at Archtoppery!

[@jackmundo4043]

Genius, without question. Thank you.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Thanks, but it just seems like obsession and persistance from here.

[@jackmundo4043]

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Genius and/or greatness cannot be achieved without obsession. You, Sir, are a certified genius. Furthermore ,to share your knowledge with future generations is the definition of magnanimity. Please know I think the world of you. You’re a special human being. Thanks again.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Too kind. Thanks.

[@gregoryguitars6291]

Drexel sells a reasonably reliable diamond wheel that has holes in it that does this without having to replace those cut off wheels. I thought I discovered a new element or achieved world peace when I figured out that it works so good. I'm glad I'm in good company. I always roll the edge of the fret somehow if I file them.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

I suppose you mean Dremel? I only use diamonds to sharpen carbide tools, old school. Diamond coated tools (especially the cheap ones like this) drive me crazy 'cause they are variable quality and bond strength, and I think they're usually more trouble than they are worth (says the guy with 5 diamond grinders). I predict that the wheel you describe would charge and clog immediately with the soft and gooey (compared to cemented carbides, that is) copper based fretwire, and fail to do the job at all. The holes will make it easy to see that it's not working, though!

[@gregoryguitars6291]

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 This has been my experience with diamond wheels too. For whatever reason, this particular Dremel wheel has been a loyal soldier. I only use it for one task. Who knows, maybe I got an anomaly.

[@cheapskate8656]

Thats a great tip, Thanks Ken

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

You bet

[@chrispile3878]

After 45 years at the bench - a new technique to learn! Thanks, Ken.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

I feel the same way. I love discovery.

[@rodparker4514]

Terrific Sir

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Thanks!

[@elluisito000]

That dremel holding thing is a terrific idea 😀

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Thanks!

[@DanielSheres]

So cool! Ken, I’m a little surprised (read: blown away) that you do that by hand and aren’t using a jig to hold the tang vertical. Your handwork is remarkable.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

I think this would be particularly tricky cut to fixture, and really needs to be done by hand to get it just right. If you do it the way I show, you can instantly see what exact part of the fret is getting cut and instantly make the required correction. When you're new to this, and just feeling it out, it's good practice to spend some time with a scrap of fretwire, getting the feel of it so you can excel. It really is a sweet trick, because properly done, it makes the surface that lands on the fingerboard a tiny bit hollow, and it comes out perfect as can be!

[@DanielSheres]

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 ah I see. Thank you!

[@ryanwalker3015]

Such a cool creative technique. Thanks for sharing. I'm a luthier/dentist, and it's definitely an advantage when it comes to doing stuff like this. I have so many little tools and drills that can do stuff like that. I've been using my highspeed handpiece to smooth of the fret tangs, but I think i'll try your method this time. Thanks again. Priceless.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

I have a Midwest Quiet - Air plugged in at the ready, but don't use it too much. Great tool for some things, but low power keeps it from being more useful to me. We did use it at Parker Guitars as a production tool for one crazy job, the opening and shaping of the hole in the side of the headstock for the truss rod tool! No other tool would be able to take this cut.

[@ryanwalker3015]

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Nice. Yeah my high speeds are now electric torque motors that are air driven. They cut like butter. One thing I love using them for is for cutting MOP for inlays. Thanks so much for all that you share with us on your channel. Big inspiration.

[@hksoundpro]

Thanks for sharing Ken. I've used this technique for a few years now. My eyes aren't what they used to be, so I use a dye marker on the fret ends after I nip off the tang. Then I can clearly see when I've removed enough metal for the fret end to seat flush. Nice trick with the window cuts on the wheel!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

The windows are a game changer. I use them on other machines, like magic, only real.

[@stevedimebag]

Those little dremel wheels are SO brittle. I’ve been doing this technique for a while now. Or at least an approximation. The idea of nipping out some of that wheel for visibility is a great idea. Thanks for that one!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Yeah, seeing is the good part. Anybody can flail around in the dark!

[@SkyscraperGuitars]

This is gold Ken!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Ha! Glad you're digging it!

[@grantstewart5453]

I use a Dremel to do this too, but the idea of putting the breaks in the wheel to see your work is awesome. I will do that next time for sure. In order to see what I was doing I had to do this operation at 90 degrees, so it was tricky to control the back/blind side of the cut making sure I didn't go over the edge of the fret making a cosmetic issue.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Yeah, it's a great trick. Just take your time and play with the details, get the seating, speed, light, and angle just right so you can relax, then they'll all come out the same when you get your rhythm tuned up! I find this satisfying all out of proportion to what it is, but hey, that's what keeps us muddling through, right?

[@grantstewart5453]

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 that's right!

[@Ramplcro]

Great tip, especially showing the details to know where to be careful. Thanks Ken 👍

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Glad it was helpful!

[@123gianlu123]

This is a great tip! Thanks for sharing

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Glad it was helpful!

[@thisperfectworld]

Brilliant!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

This really works!

[@thefreese1]

Thank you so much for sharing.. Most luthiers don't do that little extra.. thats what makes a luthier great... All those little extras add up until you actually wind up with a work of art born of patience and detail.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Thanks for your kind words. You may have forgotten to mention the biggest driver, obsession. After all, it's just another useful tool!

[@frankmedina4230]

Love it. Amazing! Thank you so much.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

You are so welcome!

[@arthurrodriguez6878]

Thank you!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

You're welcome!

[@geraldpau8801]

I want to thank you for all the videos you post on this channel! I had the chance to meet you in Montreal several years ago and see your instruments, and your work is fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing your secrets

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

You're welcome! I'm having a blast.

[@RickMolloy]

Thank you so much for this and your other videos. I really appreciate the love and time you’re taking with this. It’s also a wonderful tip for something that’s been vexing me

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Vexation must be Vanquished!

[@ZL1LoVeR]

Oh my goodness! THE Ken Parker? Sir, I’m so happy to have found your channel…. As a budding guitar builder I am humbled to be able to learn from you. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

I'm pleased to be of service!

[@fepatton]

Pure genius! I have a wood shaping disc for my angle grinder that works on this same principle (a “Holy Galahad”). I never would have thought of modifying one of these cutoff wheels like this. Will do this on my next build. Thanks for sharing! Really loving your videos.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Thanks! So great to be able to see what you're doing! There are lots of applications for this idea in sharpening, and we'll get into some of them.

[@patriozeb]

Thanx Ken, I really appreciate the drawings they help me understand what you are saying. The demonstration then makes perfect sense to me! Thanx again, Pat

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

You are very welcome

[@peachmelba1000]

I'm in the process of building a few guitars simultaneously, and this will really come in handy. I'm taking the extra step of preshaping every fret for every position, since all of the necks are made to the same spec. Ideally, I'll be able to install the frets and then have only some spot leveling to do.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Great! Precision planning and shaping before driving the frets really pays off!

[@FutoneGuitars]

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing all your experience and expertise on this channel. You are one of my favourite Thank you. luthiers and an inspiration!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

It's my privilege.

[@artysanmobile]

Fantastic! Fret ends are a pet peeve for me, going completely unnoticed until a horrible job made my honey, a 1958 Stratocaster, unplayable. What was my number one for decades sits in its case and I miss the hell out of it. I’m lucky to have enough instruments that my music has not suffered but it’s heartbreaking. I’d take your advice if you knew someone I should take it to. I’m in S. Florida.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Sorry for your trouble. I can recommend Sherwood Phifer for superlative precision fretwork without reservation. Sherwood is a brilliant conservator with decades of experience, and will restore your dear '58 to its #1 status. A gifted player, he will utterly nail all the "feel and vibe" that you're missing. www.phiferguitars.com Get ready to get happy.

[@artysanmobile]

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Your generosity knows no limit! Thanks for this, Ken. That guitar is my baby and it deserves some tender loving care. It is anything but fragile. I’ve played it constantly - written, recorded, performed - the entire 55 years I’ve owned it and it is home for me. I’m missing home. Thank you.

[@gabytagliabue1755]

Thanks Ken, you are a máster and artist. Love yours videos.💚💚

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Wow, thank you

[@Nilopsz]

Amazing!!! Your are so creative!! Amazing jigs, technics, skills, I would like to be like this when I grow up

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Me too!

[@wrstew1272]

You look like you are having a great time explaining this process. I would love to work with you for a month or three. You have accumulated so many tricks to pass along. Genius move! I’ve broken far too many Dremel wheels but never intentionally. Another one for the file.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

I can't tell you how happy I was to figure out the broken wheel gizmo! Just as happy to show you all. Typically, what might strike someone as a genius trick move feels closer to an obvious process improvement I'd been both staring at and missing for who-knows-how-long. Usually feels more like duh than Aha! A month or three is over in 2 minutes.

[@KoentoppGuitars]

Love you Ken! You just changed my methods as per usual :) ❤️🙏🏼❤️

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

I first did this in the early 80's, and almost did a back flip I was so happy! It's fun to share something so simple and useful.

[@alandust2188]

Great technique......thanks!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

You are so welcome!

[@RIDICULOUSLOGIN]

Great tip!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Glad it was helpful!

[@peterbutler5597]

We always suspected you were a genius - now we know!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Only guilty of stubbornness, I'm afraid, your Honor.

[@dalgguitars]

Fantastic! Thanks so much.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

My pleasure

[@theluthiersapprentice3309]

Great tip...Got my attention! You, sir, got a new sub. Cheers and well done!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Welcome!

[@DanielRodriguez-eh1qd]

I use this same method but I don’t use nippers at all so I’m pretty much using the dremel for all of the tang removal process. Nippers strong enough for stainless steel can get pretty expensive. The dremel wheels are so much more affordable for me.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Glad you've got it working! I agree that the harder fret alloys are challenging for the mortal nippers we can buy. Try Stew Mac, they will replace end cutters that don't work for you.

[@dantahoua]

Thanks a lot for this great tip! :)

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

No worries!

[@gitrbldr941]

Brilliant Thanks

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

My Pleasure!

[@martinlouden9005]

A genius in the true sense of the word. How do you keep on doing it Ken?

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

The key concept seems to be some version of obsession.

[@wilsonguitars156]

Generosity plus....thanks ....definitely beats the file method ive been using for 30 plus years!!

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

You're welcome!

[@VegasCyclingFreak]

That's a very clever way to do frets. Are these stainless steel or conventional frets?

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Thanks, after years of struggling, there's an epiphany here and there! These are "EVO" frets, so none of the above. The recipe is around 4 parts copper and one part tin, with tiny traces of iron, titanium, and idontrememberium. Normally we call alloys made from mostly copper and tin "Bronze", but for some reason they called it EVO?!?! Alloying crosses the line from science to art, and trace amounts of elements can have effects beyond what you might imagine, kinda like just a wee bit of arsenic in your soup. Sadly, the EVO wire has been discontinued, but I'm sure others are taking up the slack, as bronze has been around, well, since the bronze age, right? Although EVO is a little softer than the fairly hard stainless alloys that are used for fretwire, it seems to wear at least as well as stainless. Hardness and toughness are different things, and stainless steels vary widely in both of these qualities. At Parker Guitars, we specified a stainless wire that was very tough, and many times harder than any stainless alloy that could ever get rolled into a tanged fretwire shape due to the much simpler "D" cross sectional shape.

[@VegasCyclingFreak]

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Thanks for the detailed response - very interesting! I love my ‘95 Fly Deluxe.

[@Eeklex]

As a likely “one (or two) and done” builder who’s therefore stingy about specialized tool-buying, would skipping the nipper and doing the whole tang removal with the Dremel wheel be a go?

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

I can't see why not, although you may be surprised to find out how hot a fret can get if you push it. It would be helpful to at least cut the tang at 45 degrees with your sharp end nippers to reduce the amount of material to be removed by grinding. Good luck!

[@wrstew1272]

I think that there are diamond discs available that would relieve the possibility of exploding.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Please don't take all the fun out of it for me. I've been waiting 37 years for one of these to blow up on this fret end job, and they're just not cooperating. Let me keep my hope.

[@paulmerojunkpileguitars]

And without grinding wheel scars on the distal side of the index finger! I’ll thank you before I try it )))….

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

It's safe if used as directed. Don't cut yourself!

[@xdoctorblindx]

Very helpful! Is there a specific RPM for the Dremel that works best for this use case?

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

I fooled around with the speed, and I don't think it's too important, except that really slow isn't so good. You will feel them heat up, but that's OK. Give it a whirl, and maybe practice on fretwire you don't like, after all, the amount of fret material removed is really small.

[@JavaoftheLava]

Hello sir, I wanted to ask if a tailpiece has to be rigid? I’ve wondered if a leather strap type thing that holds a metal bar for the strings to go through would work as well?

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

I guess I'd say that a tailpiece might be a tricky thing to make from of leather. I suppose if you could really tough, thick leather you might be able to make something that didn't creep. It might be tempting to try it with with low tension strings. After all, intestines of mammals are sliced up in thin strips, twisted and dried to make "gut" strings, and are still used on some few instruments today. The problem with these protein strings is that they stretch and go flat when the humidity rises, and vice versa. Segovia is quoted saying he wouldn't have pursued the guitar if not for the age of plastics and therefore the availability of the newly developed nylon strings that could hold their pitch. I like your idea very much, so much that I tried to fake it with bronze sheet and tubular brass rivets in 2007, kenparkerarchtops.com/mrs-natural-gallery Lots of folks have asked me how I got leather to work as a tailpiece material! Gotta love that. You can fool some of the people some of the time....... Give it a try and file a full report! Good luck with your work!

[@JavaoftheLava]

@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Wow I would have thought that was leather too! Looks perfectly taut.

[@rmTheWalrus]

How… in… the… H-E-double-hockey-pucks did you come to think of that Dremel wheel trick? I do not think of clever things like this…😮I can replicate but not invent.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

This is an old idea, for sure, so no special credit to me! I use a "split felt lap" to polish my edge tools with buffing compound, and the "split" means radial gashes in the disk, as seen here, www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=8%22+hard+felt+split+lap This is the one I like, and use every day. It's so great to see what you're doing!

[@TheOdditee]

I’d lose too many fingers

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

You could make wooden jaws for a pair of pliers to play it safe.

[@podfuk]

7:05 That's brilliant idea Ken, I would never have thought of it just by myself

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Happy to be of service. Good trick in other places too!

[@glennc1328]

This is a great tip. Many thanks for sharing.

[@kenparkerarchtoppery9440]

Glad it was helpful!