Jaws3

I agree with the other reviewers, to me... wasted space in my tool box. Of the 6 times I have used it I have had to redo frets every time. Maybe Stewmac could have incorporated the Jaws2 press seeing the bar clamp is the same, would be more reasonable then.

I bought one of these a while ago (before the rating system). I couldn't get a single fret seated properly with it. I ended up spending about an hour trying to make this tool work the way it's supposed to and decided to ditch it and just hammer the frets in. I will say that SM is awesome about returns. They had no issue taking it back. I've been thinking about getting one of the other Jaws tools, but this one just doesn't seem to want to work unless the slots are quite loose, at least looser than I like to work with.

I bought a j-3 when it first came out. Almost immediately I screwed the middle screw down too far and ruined the retaining ball bearing. S.M. folks are such great people - they sent me a new one immediately - no charge. After not needing to use the tool for several months (I have all their other fretting tools, J1,J2, fret press, and hammers - and use them regularly) I forgot about the bearing and once again broke it. My own fault. No excuses this time. I do think the plastic knobs for pressing down the brass inserts are weak (metal or a different type would be nice) - I cracked one tightening it. So all in all - The tool has it's uses, but YOU also have to know it's limitations. Like many of S.M.'s tools, it's meant to be used by professional, trained luthiers - not wood workers who think they are guitar "builders". I applaud S.M. for all their recent "training" videos as it has expanded their market place and helped many a player. I am a big S.M. supporter and have many/most of their tools. I am glad I bought this tool. Sometimes it's just what you need to get the job done. Time is money. Just wish they sold replacement bearings/parts for forgetful people like me. :)

Important: "Works for entire necks, too!" DOES NOT MEAN that it works good. This tool uses standard stewmac aluminium radius-block as a base - and this base still has 7,25" radii! On fingerboards flatter than 7,25" - 99% of all fingerboards - you can easily damage recently installed frets while clamping jaws3 to the neck. Of course i tried to use some soft material as a padding between fretboard and jaws3 base, but there was another problem: now the central pressure screw can't reach as deep as needed (padding adds some height). And more: If you accidentally move central screw too deep, the insert holding ball will be broken. And now the screws. Seriously, they are really hard to turn when pressing fret into the slot. This tool is a weak - ordinary fret press (or drill press with radius insert) will be much stronger. Actually I archived better results even when pressing fret with one big red clamp (through jaws3, of course). I'm totally disappoint.