Fret saw blade ?

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Spiral blades are an abomination,and should not be used by anyone who aspires to develop decent skills with a fret saw.

Although I have not used one, I know people who do. They like that they can simply cut in what ever direction they want, but cut a healthy distance from the line. I brought my Fret saw and cut very close to the line. I figure that it takes more skill to cut close to the line, but I can easily cut far from the line so I would prefer the smaller blade (which is why I use it).

I can cut pretty close to the line, but, I don't think that I have decent fret saw skills.

[Patrick Chase]

Andrew, these are now standard (a few years now). Contact Lee at Knew Concepts. They are anodised aluminium. I prefer them to the plastic pointy ones.

What may not be obvious is that Derek is using a rather unique Knew Concepts fretsaw there. That looks to be one of a very few that were cut from solid 1/8" Titanium, which turned out to be prohibitively costly and was replaced by the 3D "birdcage" design before it went to market.

As Derek says the Aluminum knobs are now standard. My Aluminum fretsaw has them.

[Patrick Chase]

Although I have not used one, I know people who do. They like that they can simply cut in what ever direction they want, but cut a healthy distance from the line. I brought my Fret saw and cut very close to the line. I figure that it takes more skill to cut close to the line, but I can easily cut far from the line so I would prefer the smaller blade (which is why I use it).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Chris Schwartz likes spiral fretsaw blades.

I agree with George on this one: Spiral blades are slow, and by using them for simple stuff like this one simply avoids learning how to saw accurately and turn tight corners with a conventional blade.

[george wilson]

Spiral blades cut a big,fat kerf,and leave a fuzzy surface to boot. OUT WITH THEM!!!!!

[Andrew Pitonyak]

What may not be obvious is that Derek is using a rather unique Knew Concepts fretsaw there. That looks to be one of a very few that were cut from solid 1/8" Titanium, which turned out to be prohibitively costly and was replaced by the 3D "birdcage" design before it went to market.

As Derek says the Aluminum knobs are now standard. My Aluminum fretsaw has them.

I own the Titanium version of the saw. It also looks like a custom handle; unless they now sell nicer handles. I did not like the handles that came with mine, so I purchased a handle from elk head tools, very nice.

http://www.elkheadtools.com/saw_handles.html

If I had turning equipment, I would probably have tried to make my own.

I bought mine long before they offered a "bird cage" variety.

I see that they offer an upgrade with the improved clamping stuff

http://www.knewconcepts.com/upgradeServices.php

My saw already has the lever tensioning, but not the improved knobs. I will drop them a line to see what they say. I really like the saw, by the way; highly recommended.

[george wilson]

If you have no lathe,a drill press will do for turning a simple thing like a handle. Back in the 60's,before I got a lathe(not a priority for guitar making),I made do with my drill press.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

If you have no lathe,a drill press will do for turning a simple thing like a handle. Back in the 60's,before I got a lathe(not a priority for guitar making),I made do with my drill press.

Hmm, had not thought about that.... might be sufficient reason to upgrade my junk drill press; it is pretty week in every sense of the word.