Traveling Tool Kit: Lead Fretting Ballast
Nothing really special here. This is a lead weight I hold up underneath the fingerboard when I'm tapping frets into the end of the fingerboard of an acoustic guitar. You'll see it featured in my articles on refretting. To make this tool, I made a little box of plywood, and lined with with aluminum foil. Then I melted some lead on my kitchen stove (toxic, but quick) and poured it into the mold while holding a bent steel bar in there to form the handle. Later, I added some shrink tubing to cover the 1/2" square steel handle: