The fretwire is cut a little longer than needed. The excess will be trimmed off later. In the instructions, they say to tack in one end (pictured below on the 4th fret), then tack in the other end, then go across the middle. I quickly figured out why this is. If you don't, the fretwire tends to fall over flat instead of driving into the slot. By having it anchored at both ends, it tends to stand up a little better under the hammering.
Inevitably, one or two will want to lay down anyway. I found that a gentle twist with pliers will get them to stand back up. Unless something was really wonky, I avoided pulling a frets that I had started back out. The tangs on the fretwire have sharp grippers that tend to take bits of fretboard out with them when pulled.
Here's the fretboard with all the frets installed.
The fretboard started out flat, but the added pressure of the fretwire tangs put a bit of a back bow in it. I put a phone book on top of it, and a case of soft drinks on the phone book to help press it back into shape. Left it for a few hours that way.
Now for trimming... I didn't have a fancy fretwire trimmer, but this cheap set of diagonal cutters worked fine. The ends at this stage are quite sharp, but they will be filed smooth later.
That's all for now.
-A
P.S. IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP
If you ever find yourself trimming fretwire like this, be careful where you point that stuff. Those sharp little metal pieces fly off with a lot of energy. Think BB gun, but with barbs instead of BBs. Wear goggles and go somewhere safe.
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