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I have my frets in. I leveled them with 220 attached to a Stew-Mac straight bar and re-crowned them. I now would like to finalize the crown.

I am using fine sandpaper, but am having trouble with my technique. I keep digging into the fretboard and have lines that run parallel on either side of the fret.

What is your technique for using sandpaper to finish off your frets?

Thanks,

Doug Ubele

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

Hi Doug,

I use 000 Steel wool to finish the frets. It does a really nice job of polishing and finishing them. Also the steel wool will not leave sanding marks on the fingerboard. If you are going to use sandpaper, I would protect both sides of the fret with the guards sold by LMI or StewMac. It's just a little piece of tin with a grove cut out which lays over the fret and protects both sides while working. Even a piece of masking tape on both sides should work well enough to protect the fingerboard.

Cheers!

John

doug

yes, masking is essential, including the edges. be careful with the tape if you use ca. is very hard to remove tape/ca creation. various widths of masking tape makes job easier. make sure you use low tack tape on the edges to preserve old laquer. and use the guards. bend an ell on one end of the guard. the fine sanding stick assortment, goes from 220-600 is very useful. cheaper from woodworkers supply than s-m. cut rounded notches in the working end; a large one in the centre in one side and two smaller ones toward the edges on the other. this helps fit the fret crown size as well as getting better use of the belts. can use any finer grits, even micro mesh if you wish. i use a buffing as wheel in a dremel to final polish.crazymanmichael38459.6387962963

If you realy want those frets to shine...Micro Mesh is your choice short of a dedicated buffing wheel. I mask my board...especially maple...I use the blue painters tape. Then using a dense foam block, wrapped in MM1500 I do each fret and run the entire length on the fret ends. I progress all the way up to MM 12000. Those frets shine like you can't believe. Micro Mesh is expensive tho.

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

Where can I get a dense foam block, or rubber for that matter. I can't seem to find these......maybe they are under my nose.

I bought a buffing wheel from home depot. Can I use this to polish the frets after I sand or steel wool them? What would I put on the wheel to act as a polising compound?

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

The dense foam block is included in a MM kit.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

I hate to be a pain, but I'd rather not do this with MM. It is too expensive?

Where can I get rubber or locally?

What do I use on that wheel I bought from Home Depot (mentioned in second post above)?

P.S. - When I level the frets, I may have overdone it. Some of the frets have close to a 1/16" flat area as a result of sanding. Am I in trouble?

Thanks,

Doug Ubele

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

How big is this buffing wheel? A large one 6 or 8" might be a little dangerous with fret ends and fingerboard edges.

I used a tiny little buffing wheel on my dremel, with some dremel buffing compound. You need to mask everything with masking tape or you end up with black stuff everywhere. Can be messy, but the frets come out mirror shiny.

I also flattened the tops of some of my frets, you need to round them over with a fret file.

Instead of buying the metal guards, I just cut up a coke can, and put little strips of this material between two layers of masking tape.

The wheel is 4". I'll take it back. I just tried some 0000 steel wool and am happy with the results. As follow up to this, can I apply some sort of polishing agent by hand?

I rounded (crowned) the frets with a file. The problem is that I am having trouble with the middle of the frets. They are still flat. However, both ends are rounded.

I don't know if I favored the middle when leveling, or screwed up the crowning process. I suspect the latter because if I hold a small ruler over the fret, I can see light though the middle. I think I am in big trouble

I guess I'll just give it my best.

Thank,

Doug Ubele

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

Good call. Quick results! I actually tried 0000 and am happy with that. I am going to try and find some sort of polishing agent that I can apply by hand as a follow up to the steel wool.

Thanks John

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

doug

depending on how straight the board/neck is and how uniform your instalation technique is, it is not at all unusual to have a flat on the fret crowns after leveling. the flat must be removed to get clean sound. as an aid to see what you are taking off each fret, you can mark your fret crowns with a sharpie. the removal of the colour shows where you have removed metal, and the presence will show what you have missed.

if you are trying for a cylindrical board, keep your leveler strokes parallel to the centerline of the board. work in single strokes across the board. sanding with a radius block to finish the leveling helps maintain the fret radius = fb radius.

if you are making a variable radius board the leveler strokes will be fan like.

do you have any crowning files. euphonon usually has the best prices i've seen on them. makes restoring the round crown much easier. crazymanmichael38459.8333564815

Hi. I'm new to the forum, and to building, but am very old to fret work having repaired for about 35 years and done more fret dressing and refrets than I could ever count.

For new frets start at the beginning; a level fingerboard.

Be sure your slots are clean, you can look through them to see it, it's the main cause of a poorly seated fret.

Seat your frets well, but don't overstrike; you'll "dent" them or drive them into your fingerboard.

Pay attention to your stroke with the file, being sure you only put pressure of the forward cut stroke. It will help you keep the whole surface cutting and not just the leading end of the file.

Now for your original question of sandpaper technique . . . it sounds like you were using the paper perpendicular to the length of the fingerboard. Be sure you only sand parallel to the length of the fingerboard. You never have to sand across the board to polish frets. The coarse grits will round (very slightly) and take off file marks, the finer grits the marks of the previous grit. If you start with a 220 and progress to a 320, 400, 600, then 000 and 0000 steel wool you will have a very fine finish. You don't need many passes with any one grit to do the job and the frets with take the grit off very quickly any way.

I use one piece of wet-or-dry about 2" X 4" for each grit to do a complete finish and polish after filing. More than that and you will probably be cutting fret instead of removing file or grit marks.

Use the steel wool in a circular fashion to a small degree, especially the 0000, but don't use it exclusively perpendicular to the length of the board. Think about how the grain runs, you don't sand across until you are using the finest abrasive you have and not much then.

A little verbose, huh.

Hope it helps.

--Mark

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Mark Joy

mjoy Guitars

I don't understand when you say,

"You never have to sand across the board to polish frets. The coarse grits will round (very slightly) and take off file marks,..."

After I rounded the frets with a file, I have been sanding in the direction that I file, parallel to the frets. It sounds like you are talking about sanding in the direction of the nut to saddle. How would this round off the frets? What are you back the sandpaper with?

Thanks Mjoy,

Doug Ubele

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

[QUOTE=dubell] I hate to be a pain, but I'd rather not do this with MM. It is too expensive?

Doug Ubele[/QUOTE]

You have to remember MM last 10-15 time longer than paper, as well as does a great job. If you assign a kit to nothing but fret polishing you can polish probably five or Ten guitars if you take good care and clean off the mm pads after each use. I use MM for leveling and polish sanding on my finishes One kit does 4 guitars when properly maintained.

Here’s one thing to consider: don’t level your brand new frets with a straight edge: sandpaper or files. Try looking for high frets with a fret rocker and adjusting just the high frets with a fret file. If you have started with a smooth fretboard and have done a reasonable job seating the frets, this method will take off a lot less material overall-you only take off metal from the high frets. I then use a wooden block, with a groove filed into it with a needle file, with 400 grit sandpaper to smooth the fret further. From there I go to 0000 steel wool usually running it across the frets, parallel to the fretboard. I used to polish my frets further but it was a useless endeavor. As soon as the guitar is played the ultra-polished frets show every scratch from the strings. I don’t tape my fretboard. It takes too much time. I use the stainless steel guards. Mainly I use just one that has the ends bent, the sides extended with tape and has a piece of line tied to it. I run the line around the neck and back through the guard where it is held by a small spring clamp. The tape extends the protection, the line and clamp makes it easy to move the guard from fret to fret. Stew Mac published this idea in their catalog several years ago which you can find online here: Stew Mac Link.Neil38460.4901273148

Neil - What do you mean you when you say, "From there I go to 0000 steel wool usually running it across the frets, parallel to the fretboard."

Are you running the steel wool up and down the fretboard (from nut to saddle)?

Thanks,

Doug

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

I do a lot of refrets on old guitars with beat up fret boards so I often run the 0000 steel wood just as you say "up and down the fretboard." When I don't want to touch the fretboard like on a nicely finished maple neck or maybe on a brand new guitar, I run across the fret just like I do with the fret file and the wooden block with the 400 wet/dry sandpaper.

this discussion just goes to show there a lot of ways to skin this cat!crazymanmichael38460.8745601852