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Hello everyone,

I use a Stewmac japanese fretsaw (which produces .023" wide fretslots, matching the width of the tang of stewmac wire) to recut my slots on refrets. The saw does a good job making the slots deeper, but struggles to make them wider and binds like crazy throughout the process. I think that is due to it not having enough (or any) set, so in theory it only cut downwards and does a poor job removing material from the slot walls. I find this saw works a lot better cutting slots on a virgin (unslotted) board, but it gets pinched on tighter, preexisting slots.

It helps to play with the angle of the saw on all different axes, but I often end up with slots that are slightly wider towards the edges of the fretboard and not deep enough towards the middle of the board. With enough persistence I get the slot to size, and I have refretted dozens of guitar with this method, but it takes a considerable amount of time and effort (especially on ebony boards) so I am looking for alternatives before I drive myself crazy.

Previously I simply bought wire that matches the tang width of the previous fret, but chasing wire with the right dimensions can be challenging. I've watched all fret-o-ramas, and other discussions on recutting slots and I am aware many people prefer dremels or dental tools for this job, but I am curious to hear if anybody else has had the same issues, and how to solve it if I want to keep recutting slots with a hand held saw.