Fret Glue.

What is the best glue to use on the fret wires?

Will yellow wood glue work OK? Thanks

I don't use glue. I put a little ca. glue on the edge of the fret board on the fret ends. Mostly to fill the small gaps. The fret wire is designed to be pressed in and hold itself

bluesuke said:

I don't use glue. I put a little ca. glue on the edge of the fret board on the fret ends. Mostly to fill the small gaps. The fret wire is designed to be pressed in and hold itself

Click to expand...

Same here. they are not glued in so when it is time to re-fret it they can still be pulled out.

Fret glue

Typically you would not glue in a fret, although some times it is an appropriate solution. There are tiny barbs on the tang of the fret for this. The tang can be bent in a wavy form to make the fit tighter and allow the barbs to bite into the slot. This should work if the slots are not overly worn.

Ukulele maker

Thanks, I thought the frets were just held in place by the barbs but, when looking a little closer at the fret I removed, I noticed some type of glue residue in the slot.

The only time I glue in the fret is if there is an inlay that goes all the way across it. I will bevel the shell, recon stone, etc. and then epoxy the fret in.

I use LMI's white glue. Just a very tiny amount.

Doesn't seem that many uke builders here use glue, but in guitar circles you'd be quite a rare breed not to.

Most will use something like Titebond on the tang before hammering or pressing in. I use Hot Hide Glue and this has been used for a very long time. Others will install the fret and then wick thin CA glue from each end. This method is good if you don't bind your fret board and have a tiny slot that needs filling. Wick in some CA. Let dry and then give the edge of the fret board a light sand. Don't blow out the dust from the fret tang slot. Put another drop of CA and it will harden up the sanding dust. Sand smooth once dry. On ebony you will not be able to see where the slot was. On there woods it may end up being almost as un-noticable.

It doesn't make the fret any more difficult to remove should the need arise. Not all that common on a uke to need a re-fret, but really common on a steel string guitar. Just a little heat from a soldering iron on the fret itself and the glue gets soft. Remove fret as you normally would.

What it does for the instrument is provide a rock solid seating to the fret. Gives better transfer of energy from the string. This may be less noticeable on a ukelele with such low tension on the strings, but quite evident on a steel string guitar.

This isn't going to miraculously turn an ordinary instrument into a killer one, but it's little things like this that all add up to take your building from ordinary to extraordinary.

If I decide to use glue, I'll probably only use wood glue since this is on a High Gloss finished Ukulele and I could easily wipe any excess glue off with a damp rag. Otherwise, I'll have to mask the entire fretboard which would be a lot more work.