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Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/407865
pfalzgrass - Posted - 03/23/2026: 05:57:52
I need to replace the frets on my Stelling Starflower #405. I checked stellingbanjo.com/blog/a-stell...ronology/ and learned, that the fretboard is still ebony instead of ebonal, but the frets are glued.
Can the frets easily be pulled or do I need to take care of the glue (btw. what kind of glue has been used) upfront?
trapdoor2 - Posted - 03/23/2026: 06:44:33
quote:
Originally posted by pfalzgrassI need to replace the frets on my Stelling Starflower #405. I checked stellingbanjo.com/blog/a-stell...ronology/ and learned, that the fretboard is still ebony instead of ebonal, but the frets are glued.
Can the frets easily be pulled or do I need to take care of the glue (btw. what kind of glue has been used) upfront?
I would watch videos from "Twoodfrd" (Ted Woodford) on Youtube. He has dozens that feature refretting. Be prepared for chipping on the Ebony around the edges of every fret slot as the frets are pulled. You can't avoid it, but you can minimize it. Ted usually scribes on either side of each fret with an Xacto knife and then uses a soldering iron to heat the fret (which loosens the glue) before pulling it.
I used a metal fret shield (Stewmac) to do the one fret job I've done. Specialized (or modified) fret pulling pliers helped a lot. Using the soldering iron also helped. Take your time, watch a lot of Youtube videos. Good luck!
pfalzgrass - Posted - 03/23/2026: 07:30:19
Thanks Marc!
So far I have only experience with refretting non-glued frets.
sunburst - Posted - 03/23/2026: 08:00:14
Heat the frets to remove them. A flea market cloths iron is the standard tool. The epoxy melts easily and the frets pop right out.
Replacing the frets requires cleaning the slots and gluing the new frets. (Stelling used epoxy early, then thick CA later).
Edited by - sunburst on 03/23/2026 08:00:44
conic - Posted - 03/23/2026: 08:22:20
Its easy pulling the frets as per Marcs suggestions, the hard part is installing the new ones, levelling, smoothing and polishing.
My first few times I practiced on a scrap mahogany wood i found in the dumpster, I cut my own fret slots and installed levelled polished frets and also practiced removing them.
Also most banjos only use up to fret 5 or 10, maybe they don't all need replacing
Take your time and practice a few first, you can do it
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