Arbor Press is my new best friend

I'm in the midst of building my second stewmac tenor kit. It's been going pretty well. I've swapped out the included mahogany top for a nice spruce one piece top i got from HouseAndMill.com. It's been a fun challenge to work with spruce and to play around with my new router. I think i've even managed to cut a nice even sound hole without a circle-cutting jig.

The thing that has most improved my building experience and pleasure this time around has been my $42 Grizzly Arbor Press (http://www.grizzly.com/products/Arbor-Press-1-2-Ton/G4017).

I struggled so much the first time around seating my frets with a hammer; it almost turned me off ever trying again.

With the arbor press, it is sooooo easy to get the frets seated. It's a pleasure. I didn't even bother with the fret pressing jig that stewmac makes; i just put a small piece of wood between the descending metal piece or the press and the fret board, and, PRESTO, the fret is seated perfectly.


So, to you all super-rookie builders like me, save yourself the headache of seating frets by hand/hammer and buy yourself a press!

I have the inserts and arbor from StewMac and they are a great tool, but I really enjoy doing it with a hammer. I also fret with the board on the neck, so that may have something to do with it too.

I must be strange.. even tho I have at least half a dozen presses ranging from 1/4 ton up to 10 ton..I do all the fret seating in the bench drill..co's it's dead easy to set up and it's at eye level

thistle3585 said:

I have the inserts and arbor from StewMac and they are a great tool, but I really enjoy doing it with a hammer. I also fret with the board on the neck, so that may have something to do with it too.

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I have the inserts as well, but I couldn't figure out an easy way to attach them to the press I have... Oh well, I still paid only 40% of the cost of the Stewmac press for the grizzly one i have.

Timbuck said:

I must be strange.. even tho I have at least half a dozen presses ranging from 1/4 ton up to 10 ton..I do all the fret seating in the bench drill..co's it's dead easy to set up and it's at eye level

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Well, we know you're strange, Timbuck

I only wish I had a drill press (and one of your thickness sanders too), though I really don't know where i'd put it. I only have a work space of maybe 4' x 8' and about a third of it is filled up with random household repair/maintenance stuff (paint, insulation, tiles, wood, etc).
Someday when I have a garage to convert into a workshop...

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-ton-arbor-press-3551.html Harbor Freight is a great place to find them as well. Just be prepared to do a lot of de-greasing.

jedejo said:

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-half-ton-arbor-press-3551.html Harbor Freight is a great place to find them as well. Just be prepared to do a lot of de-greasing.

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Yep, that's pretty much identical to the Grizzly one I have. I wonder if the green paint on mine is worth the extra couple of bucks...