Fret dressing (Full Version)

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Stu -> Fret dressing (Oct. 9 2017 10:35:47)

Anyone wanna really about fret dressing?
I've recently replaced the fret board on the first and only guitar I built, and I'm now at the fret leveling stage.

I find the process rather stressful. I've done it twice before. (once when originally building and then before I realized I had to remove the whole fretboard.)

I find there's an element of chasing your tail. If one fret needs particular attention, that can then throw out an adjacent fret that was level before. Am I making sense?

I also find polishing them stressful and even after using a crowning file and fine grits, theres often a few tiny scratches left from the leveling.

Anyone wanna share some tips/experiences?

Cheers



Flamingrae -> RE: Fret dressing (Oct. 9 2017 12:54:35)

Ha! - Glad you are on to this part - home run almost.
There are youtube vids but.....what I do is get a flat surface 60 - 70 mm wide and 300 - 400mm long and cover with say 180/220 grit. Sweep that over and level roughly. Finish with a finer grade - P400 ish. Re-crown with fret file. Don't forget to protect finger board with something. Then check frets with a short level straight edge. Work from treble to base - side /middle /side - check for rocking!! (is that Aerosmith in the background). I work frets 1-3, 2-4, 3-5 etc in this manner. If you have made a slightly lower level for the bass side when levelling the fretboard, you cannot really check any other way as a longer level would not take this into consideration.
You are right, you do have to go back, check and iron out blimps and it does seem never-ending. That done, you can buy rubber impregnated fret dressers on eBay or other places, for polishing up. I use fine grade abrasive - P600?? then polish up using a leather strop stick charged with Tripoli compound. Another way is to dress the fret with the compound stick and rub over with leather strop stick. If you want to go a stage further you could use rouge - but I find not really ness.
Check levels again!! 1-3, 2-4, 3-5 etc Any wobble by this stage can be cured with a little file dressing and tickle up.
I'm sure there are other variations out there but it's what I do. You could also get the John Levan book on setup, maintenance and repair which will give you a few pointers although there is a fair bit aimed at electrics in that book.
Hope this helps and look forward to seeing your efforts sometime.



Stephen Eden -> RE: Fret dressing (Oct. 10 2017 7:54:10)

I hate fret work as well. Only because it takes a lot of hard work to achieve very little in comparison to wood anyway.

A quick description of my method.

Use a flat block with something like 120 - 180. I use, used 100 grade so the roughness has already gone. Run up and down the frets until you can see all of the frets have been touched. concentrate your efforts more between the 12th and 19th frets. More metal more work.

Then recrown. Don't just use a flat crowning file. The flat will nearly always just touch the ends of the frets and not the middle. So I just use the flat side to crown the ends quickly then use a curved crowning file to get the middle of the fret.

Now the clean up. I use my old polishing abrasives to do this. I also use two grades of them. 600-800 and 1800 - 2000. First I run up and down the fingerboard to take out the scratches from the file. Then I run up and back down the fingerboard sanding up to and the over the frets in the direction the fret runs. With an ebony fingerboard I don't worry about fingerboard protection as I clean the fingerboard at the same time. I then do the same thing with the 1800 to 2000 then use 0000 wire wool to finish.

You can check for levelness at this point. I tend to find I need very little adjustment.



Stu -> RE: Fret dressing (Oct. 10 2017 12:11:10)

Yeah so close Rae!! Just never any time to get it done. If I have a hitch one sat. I have to wait until the following weekend... And then may only get half hr... And the cycle continues. Thinking of bringing the guitar to work and dressing frets in my lunch break away from the baby.

Anyway thanks for sharing your process you guys.
I think I perhaps need to go on slightly longer with the curved diamond crowning file, as I often do that part and there's still a tiny strip at the apex of the fret that has a few scratches.

I had a slip with the crowning file and marked the ebony on sun. Arggh. hopefully be able to correct that.



Echi -> RE: Fret dressing (Oct. 10 2017 12:21:05)

quote:

Now the clean up. I use my old polishing abrasives to do this. I also use two grades of them. 600-800 and 1800 - 2000. First I run up and down the fingerboard to take out the scratches from the file. Then I run up and back down the fingerboard sanding up to and the over the frets in the direction the fret runs. With an ebony fingerboard I don't worry about fingerboard protection as I clean the fingerboard at the same time. I then do the same thing with the 1800 to 2000 then use 0000 wire wool to finish.


May I ask you what do you use to polish the frets?



Pgh_flamenco -> RE: Fret dressing (Oct. 11 2017 3:26:17)

quote:

I find there's an element of chasing your tail. If one fret needs particular attention, that can then throw out an adjacent fret that was level before. Am I making sense?


Spot leveling a specific fret can be difficult as you describe. I use these flat diamond honing files from Harbor Freight as fret files to level the particular fret and usually the frets above it. These are cheap files and I had to glue one of them to the plastic backing after it fell off. I haven't had any trouble with it since.

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-2-inch-x-6-inch-diamond-hone-blocks-36799.html

To crown the fret I ground, rounded and polished the edges of an old flat file so it can contact the fret board without damaging it. I develop a crown by filing the two edges of each fret to a peak.

I experimented with different grits of sand paper and the final step is to use a polish to remove most of the scratches. It's just trial and error and as far as I'm concerned getting a mirror finish on a fret is unnecessary.



Stephen Eden -> RE: Fret dressing (Oct. 11 2017 9:08:07)

Hey Echi, I use, used, Indasa foam sanding pads. super fine and micro fine. Then 0000 wire wool to bring it it up to a super shiny finish.



Echi -> RE: Fret dressing (Oct. 11 2017 10:42:03)

Great, thanks



Stu -> RE: Fret dressing (Oct. 11 2017 12:39:52)

quote:


I experimented with different grits of sand paper and the final step is to use a polish to remove most of the scratches. It's just trial and error and as far as I'm concerned getting a mirror finish on a fret is unnecessary.


That's interesting to me. I was always thinking it was necessary to aim for something like the finish the fret wire had when I bought it. I always imagine that even tiny scratches on the top of the fret might add up to ****ty tone.



jshelton5040 -> RE: Fret dressing (Oct. 11 2017 14:30:22)

I think there is a better feel if the frets are not highly polished. We go to 600 grit and use a fine diamond file to touch up fret ends and bevels.



Pgh_flamenco -> RE: Fret dressing (Oct. 12 2017 0:30:05)

quote:

I always imagine that even tiny scratches on the top of the fret might add up to ****ty tone.


Not at all - the scratches I'm referring to are purely cosmetic. If you have to look at the fret from a few inches away to see the scratches they won't affect the tone.



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