Hosco Gauges Pull Saws

Rating: ***** (out of five stars possible)

Many vintage acoustic guitars have fret slots sized for very narrow fret tangs. That was the style of frets often used in those days. More important, fret slot preparation practises require soaking the slots with thin super glue after the frets are removed. This makes installing new frets with thicker fret tangs even more difficult. Hosco fret slot clean out pull saws to the rescue. The saws are called "fret slot cutting saw standard model". The kerf dimensions these saws produce are perfect for preparing fret slots for modern frets.

The kerf sizes are .50MM(.019 inch),.057MM(.022 inch) and .60mm(.023 inch)

You should not attempt to widen the fret slots with the widest saw. Start with the .50mm and work up to the wider saws. Because I install fret board extension frets after the neck is fully installed on the guitar body, I cut the slots before installing the neck (after all reset adjustments and fitment are complete.) On a 14 frets to the neck guitar, I clamp frets 1 through 12. I like to press in frets 13 through 19 (20?). Please see my other articles on this procedure. The frets on the extension are sometimes more difficult to start, so I use the .60mm saw to widen just the top of each fret slot. This makes starting and installing those frets much easier since you can’t pound frets into the extension without breaking the top. I use a custom built fret press on the extension.

Images of the three most useful saws follow below.

A seriously great feature of these saws is that they last and last. By that I mean sharpness and kerf width durability are excellent. However, take it easy when cutting. These saws are very sharp and cut very efficiently. You might just cut clear down into the mahogany neck before you notice what was happening.