Afraid I got most of my tools from StewMac.

In my defence, it was about £1=$2 at the time ....

@tv101 Thanks, they’re quite competitive to be fair but some things are clearly rebranded Hosco products which I’ve found cheaper elsewhere!

 Any idea where we stand ordering from there in terms of thresholds for import duty etc?

StewMac used to use DHL to ship to the UK - don’t know if they still do.

Upside: incredibly fast.

Downside: they’ll *always* bill you the full VAT & Duty due on the package value.  If you assume the VAT&duty amounts to 25% of the cost-incl-shipping, then you’ll be close enough.

Downside: they’ll *always* bill you the full VAT & Duty due on the package value.

@tv101 …and there goes them being quite competitive!

@tej

I use ordinary end cut pliers from the local diy shop with the end filed or ground to make a flat. They work fine and cost £2. When I go back to work later I will take a photo. Before I got fret nippers I used to hold the wire in a small vice and use a file. My nylon faced hammer it got from Cookson Gold and it doubles for Jewellery making. Lots of places sell them and some have screw in heads for when they wear.

@rocknroller912 ok maybe I really lucked out then, I tried exactly that but the ends just weren’t strong enough and dented with each cut.

I get much of my tools from Guitars and Woods in Portugal and TLC guitar goods in the Netherlands, My fret puller and fret cutter are from G&W and pretty cheap . I believe I paid 32 euros for these

Most of my tools are from Crimson, and they all seem excellent. Some they buy in (like the hosco nut files) others they make themselves.
The company is owned by a total tool-nut (his other business is a vintage tool shop), so it's not surprising they have some good stuff.

I do have a very nice fret bender from GMC in Wales though, cheaper than most of the competition, but made out of metal not wood and has the ability to straighten fret wire.

@jonhodgson I’ve a few tools from Crimson and have to agree they’re beautifully made. It’s trying to balance value vs quality, if I had the money I’d  get everything from them 🙂

@koendb thanks, I’ll check them out, not sure in duty from Europe now either so might leave me in the same position as stew Mac where the prices are great until they’re taxed to death!!

Hi @tej, 

Watch out for the 20% off at Stewmac. That helps cover the cost of the import taxes. I know that doesn't help if you need to get a tool quickly but it can help build up your toolbox over time. 

🙏🎶🙂🎸

@russ speed isn’t really an issue here as there’s a lot to do before I need something I don’t have! 
Waiting on a new truss rod, at the moment anyway before I get started.

not sure in duty from Europe now

@tej, yeah thats why I prefer mainland Europe companies lately. I do buy from UK/US based luthier shops on occasion, but only if I can't find it here. Nothing to do with chauvinism, but all with (imho) stupid import BS

The only I’m confident with is the nut files one of you kind people suggested already, a set of 3 double edge ones from Hosco

That was me @tej 😉

I would suggest the fretting hammer made by Summit and sold at Tonetech. I have several Summit tools and I really like them, except their fret pullers. Those I didn’t gel with. I really like their fret cutters as they’re strong enough for stainless and angled so they fit over the body on acoustics, Les Paul’s etc. 

The tang nippers from Summit are also great. So great in fact that the mighty Stewmac has recently copied them.

But you didn’t ask about those...

Tonetech also sell fret cutters from Hosco and those should work great.

For fret pullers you can try searching for Top Cutters or simply get a pair from Crimson or try ebay. You’re probably not getting into the business of refrets so you don’t need an expensive pair.

You can also just buy the general tools and grind the faces flush if you have a grinder...

You’re probably not getting into the business of refrets so you don’t need an expensive pair.

@mattbeels I only need them for regretting 1 guitar but I love the neck on it and really don’t want to wreck it. Mark suggested for refrets to put masking tape either side of the fret so you have the chips in the right place and can easily glue them back, I’ve also seen metal plates that come with the nippers (from stew Mac) where the plate slides either side of the fret, not clear which would be preferable as with the latter the chips would likely be smaller but you’d have more pot luck putting them back in the right place. I had a neck off a donor guitar where I tried taking the frets off it, that came out relatively cleanly but it was evident there was no glue. The ones I want to refret are definitely glued too. 
Is the only need for tang nippers if I wanted to make a bound fretboard?

@tej

These are my fret pullers that I mentioned earlier.

@rocknroller912 so immediately the difference between the home ground ones I made and those is the metal on mine took on a sort of rainbow colouration, clearly not present on yours suggesting I did “something” differently 🤔

@tej sounds to me like you let the metal get too hot.

Unless you're grinding HSS tools you need to make sure things don't get hot, if it changes colour then you've compromised the hardening.

@tej

Jon is correct. Heating metal goes though colours - blue, yellow, red then white. Hardening is done by heating to cherry red then quenching in oil as Mark demonstrated on the live stream making a bent chisel. Then heat behind the sharp end to straw colour and quench again to temper the edge. Blue can be used to give some rust protection as used on gun metal. Harder means brittle so it’s a balance.

To work metal you heat to cherry red and let go cold slowly which softens it called annealing. The go through the hardening process. Sorry if you know this.