New Tools: I received my latest order from Stewart-MacDonald -- a refret saw 0.020-inch width, ceramic fret polishing wheels, and two individual tuners. I'm anticipating refretting a bound neck on the next guitar. I also changed out the small wheel on my homemade fret bender to a larger one made of metal into which I had filed a center groove.

New nut slotting gauge and neck relief gauge from Stew-Mac. I cannot praise the nut slotting gauge enough. I keep finding more and more things it can do.

I received my Stew-Mac order yesterday: fret press caul set with extra inserts, drill-press vise, and string spacing rule. I have also finished making nut seating files and several scrapers/chisels.

I'm doing body shape modification on the Squier Strat Standard. The body may be made of alder; the wood doesn't look too bad underneath the ruined finish. Today I'll cut the wood away from the neck just a little bit.

I'm always experimenting with making my own tools as well as looking in stores and catalogues for tools at the right price. The most recent tool I made is a "fret bender" fashioned from rollers made for door and window mechanisms (purchased at a local hardware store). I bought two larger brass rollers, plus one smaller one that is metal on the outside and nylon in the middle. I filed a slot in the middle of the nylon in the smaller roller (wheel), which I think will accept the fret-wire tang. The smaller wheel was then attached to a piece of door hardware to allow the wheel to be moved back and forth into the desired position before being bolted in place. Next, the three rollers (wheels) were bolted onto a piece of plywood in a triangular pattern with the larger wheels at the base. I had to experiment a lot to find the right placement for the wheels, so the plywood board is full of holes. To bend the fret-wire, I just push the wire through the three wheels. There is no crank like the one at Steward-MacDonald, and the accuracy couldn't possibly be as good, but since I'm trying not to spend much money -- and since this homemade device seems to work -- I guess it'll do.

New tools I've purchased since beginning this project include a small fret slot depth gauge, notched straight-edge, and double edge fret file from Stew-Mac, and an X-acto saw and a dressing stick from Hobby Lobby. At home, I've made separate fret rockers in three different lengths, a straight-edge for the flat of the neck, a fret setter, and three sizes of three-corner dressing files.