Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm amazed that Stew mac hasn't come out with a pair of cutters for SS. Maybe the reality is that no one makes a pair that's suitable for long turn use. I tried a brand called Fastcap HD flush trimmers. They are a heavy duty diagonal plies for cutting brad nails. They do handle the SS but only time will tell for how long. They are made in China so it may not be that long. The issue I see with end nippers they were not designed for heavy duty cutting. I worked as an electrician years ago and end nippers were for light duty work. It was the lineman pliers that could handle thick wire and even nails and screws. You could get more leverage on the cut then an end nipper. Knipex does sell a high Leverage Diagonal Cutters though they are not a flush cutter....Mike

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

I've probably cut thousands of DT stainless steel bicycle spokes with Knipex diagonal cutters. (bicycles again... ) FWIW they are superior to all other brands in that application. Assuming the end cutters are similar in function, Knipex would be my first choice if buying a cutter specifically for stainless frets.

Now when it comes to thin and medium SS fret wire it's not a major deal but the jumbo is a little rougher on the cutters. But I don't work with the jumbo stuff much....Mike

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

The guy who owns Fastcap http://www.fastcap.com/ came by my shop last year to see how his nippers would work for frets. They needed some improvement to be good for SS. He was interested in the market and was willing to try to fill the need. I have been happy with grinding hardware store nippers and throwing them away after a few years so I wasn't too interested. If someone was motivated to help him develop them, I bet he would listen. http://www.fastcap.com/estore/pc/Flush- ... rs-c26.htm

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

I got tired of grinding Channellocks so I bought the Fastcaps because the price was about the same and they were already ground....Mike

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

Which ones did you get?

Amazon lists several different ones, prices from about $15 to $65.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.