1936 Kalamazoo KM-11 Mandolin restoration - fretting over the tongue
Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 9:10 pm
Hello there. Its been a while ...
I'm currently working on this old Gibson made Kalamazoo KM-11. It was a bit of a basket case, with 6 cracks in the top, 2 cracks on the back, a broken brace and very worn frets.
As you can see, it is back together and I am in the process of refretting it with banjo fret wire. This was simple up to the 9th fret using my hand held fret press. But I'm not very please with the results of the frets I've done over the neck block.
Is there a way I can use my drill press as an arbor, and if so, do I need to brace the 4 frets over the body? and how do I do that? On a guitar I could use my scissor jack, but it wont fit.
In general, I am a little nervous about using the hammer on this old dear, as it is fragile. I am also having trouble acquiring lead shot here in Canada, as we need a firearms registration to buy reloading materials. Is there a good substitute?
Thanks in advance.
I'm currently working on this old Gibson made Kalamazoo KM-11. It was a bit of a basket case, with 6 cracks in the top, 2 cracks on the back, a broken brace and very worn frets.
As you can see, it is back together and I am in the process of refretting it with banjo fret wire. This was simple up to the 9th fret using my hand held fret press. But I'm not very please with the results of the frets I've done over the neck block.
Is there a way I can use my drill press as an arbor, and if so, do I need to brace the 4 frets over the body? and how do I do that? On a guitar I could use my scissor jack, but it wont fit.
In general, I am a little nervous about using the hammer on this old dear, as it is fragile. I am also having trouble acquiring lead shot here in Canada, as we need a firearms registration to buy reloading materials. Is there a good substitute?
Thanks in advance.