They’re two different techniques to achieve the same result. The method you use will be the one that suits you although depending on the neck construction style you may want to employ both.

With a hammer you can install all the frets on any neck. It’s the classic, traditional technique that should at least be learned. Even if you decide to use a press exclusively you’ll still need a hammer to get the frets started by seating one of the fret ends. Hammering is loud so you’ll need some ear muffs and you don’t want to bounce the hammer on the frets as they’ll spring back up, you need to use a dead blow technique.

Using a press is much quieter and with this method you can seat the fret evenly without worry of spring back or possible distortion of the fretwire, although the latter would be a symptom of bad technique. An arbor press works well for bolt on necks but set & through necks are much more difficult and in some cases impossible to do the higer frets.

I suggest you start with a good fretting hammer and practice on a scrap piece of wood to get a feel for it. Maybe you could find a beater guitar for 25 bucks and experiment on that?

I imagine that you can do it as quickly with a hammer as you can with a fret press @tej......by the time you set up the press you could have a few of the frets in with a hammer. 

🙏😕🎸🎶

@mattbeels thanks, don’t have an arbour press so that’s not really an option, I’ve heard of people mounting a caul in a drill press though not sure that’s a good plan for my cheap drill.

Like the idea of a test guitar though, now Covid restrictions for non essential shops are changing here I’ll check out some 2nd hand or charity shops and see what I can find.

@tej Also a press isn’t necessarily faster, but it’s definitely more expensive. A small arbor press doesn’t cost a ton (swidt) but it’s more than a hammer plus you need the caul and at least one fret press insert. 

Then, not all arbor presses are ready to accept the fret press caul, you might have to drill out the ram and that’s a big hole and it needs to be straight! When I bought mine on ebay years ago I got lucky. The caul fit right in and I just needed to drill and tap a small hole in the side of the ram to hold the caul in place.

@russ yeah it doesn’t look particularly hard or time consuming. There seems to be a hell of a lot of specialist tools that just aren’t necessary unless you’re trying to produce a lot of instruments in a short time. Not to mention the number of normal tools that the price is increased on just by putting the word “luthier” in front of the name 🤔

Not to mention the number of normal tools that the price is increased on just by putting the word “luthier” in front of the name 🤔

Yeah @tej. It's good to shop around in the general woodworking tool suppliers. 

🎶🎸😕🙏

The two main advantages I can see with a fret press are the noise, and that it's possible to achieve a consistency which will require less fret dressing.

Hammers are cheaper, take up less space in the workshop, and also are independent of the radius, which is something you might want to consider if you're using a compound radius fretboard, or fan-frets (as the fret angle changes, the effective radius does too).

Saying that, I have seen some designs for fret press cauls which are supposed to allow for variable radii, one was a manual adjustment (a prototype by Strandberg) and the others automatic.

The engineer/tool-addict in me wants a nice modified arbor press with a cool multi-radius fret pressing caul, but I think for once I'll resist the gear temptation and just stick with my nice dead-blow fretting hammer.

As for practicing using a fret hammer, in my experience there really isn't much to practice, when I refretted my Patrick Eggle at Crimson (ironically one that Mark originally would have shaped the neck on) I was just shown how to do one fret and let loose on the other 23. 

There seems to be a hell of a lot of specialist tools that just aren’t necessary

@tej

Avoid watching Stewmac videos with Dan Erlewine. They have a tool or jig for every problem you ever thought of, every problem you hadn't thought of yet, and every problem you'd never even have thought of even if you encountered it!

This is my cheapy / home-made fret press ...

It's just a £5 Aldi-special drill press, with a home-made insert to hold a fret caul instead of a drill.

Even with a (proper) fret press, I think you'd still need to have a hammer in reserve, just to tap in any reluctant fret ends.  So, not a case of either/or, more a case of use the tool for the job.

Hammering is loud so you’ll need some ear muffs

Or just turn the music up louder @mattbeels.  

That’s a good solution @tv101! Although I’m more of a Jaws press kinda guy. I use the arbor press sometimes as well.

It's just a £5 Aldi-special drill press, with a home-made insert to hold a fret caul instead of a drill.

@tv101 I’ve got one of those too, I feel a little side project coming on. 👍

I’m more of a Jaws press kinda guy.

@mattbeels I can’t believe how expensive those things are, it is just a modified pair of pliers. 😆

I can’t believe how expensive those things are, it is just a modified pair of pliers.

This is pretty much the current model, minus the cauls and the Stewmac label

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/pliers/8765193?cm_mmc=UK-PPC-DS3A-_-google-_-DSA_UK_EN_Hand_Tools_Index-_-Pliers%7C+Products-_-DYNAMIC+SEARCH+ADS&matchtype=b&dsa-1189907938953&s_kwcid=AL!7457!3!504836951403!b!!g!!&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvYSEBhDjARIsAJMn0lhyi9fe9pkQforQAsLuESrpdV6vos8i_lS-WxDwxp1q3yTVNlt_7ugaAkG2EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

As I recall the previous incarnation looked more like this

https://www.gluedtomusic.com/products/1188/elmer-guitar-handheld-fret-press-clamp-with-4-support-cauls/

There are a few examples online where people have made their own, this one looks quite nice

There are a few examples online where people have made their own, this one looks quite nice

@jonhodgson Yeah I feel yet another little side project happening. 👍

@boo this may help, it's from the Stewmac manual.

Really not much modification needed, if you start with these https://www.tooled-up.com/facom-hinged-tip-slip-joint-locking-pliers/prod/212012/

I can’t believe how expensive those things are, it is just a modified pair of pliers. 😆

@boo I think I bought mine about 19 years ago and I could look it up but I think I paid around half of what they’re going for now, still was expensive though. It’s a tad more then a modified set of pliers. They start with a nice set of Facom vice grips, modify the upper and lower jaws and then add in all the cauls. So back then it was probably a pretty good deal actually. I should have bought another as having two would be sweet!

I just checked Rall Guitars to see what he charges but he doesn’t have it anymore,  bummer. He also used a Facom vice grip. 

I’ve got one of those too, I feel a little side project coming on. 👍

@boo I don’t have one of those but I do have a spare mini Aldi bench grinder I’m working on converting to a spindle sander 😁

I don’t have one of those but I do have a spare mini Aldi bench grinder I’m working on converting to a spindle sander 😁

@tej Cool, hope it works. 

I sharpened my chainsaw teeth using a mini bench grinder from Aldi the other day, it is actually made for that specific job though. It does the job, I can’t fault it. 

@tej I have bought a few Aldi and Lidl tools and they aren’t that bad to start off with but one by one they are failing. I bought a router and it was ok but every time I use it, the more I realise it’s more like a toy compared to my others and it’s really difficult to change the bits, very frustrating. Every time I use it and throw it to the back of the workshop, I say, never again. 🤣