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I'm just not happy with using steel wool on polishing my frets. When I bend a string, I can hear the grinding of the string on the fret. I'm so jealous looking at everyone else's shiny pretty frets here on the OLF. How do you do that?! Clinton

Pretty much like Hesh said, except I go through 800 before using the wool. I sand/polish lengthwise, along the FB first and then across the FB, along the fret, with each grit. Kinkead illustrates fret finishing very well in his book. Mine come out smooth as a baby's butt.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Once levelled and recrowned where necessary, tape off and do 20 strokes each of 600 then 1000 grit per fret, dry. Then hit them with a 2 inch buffing wheel on the dremel and rouge compound - shiny as they can get.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I use several grits of micro-mesh. Shines em up pretty well.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

tony, you stole my post!!!!

I go all the way up to 12,000 grit micro mesh.

[QUOTE=TonyKarol] Then hit them with a 2 inch buffing wheel on the dremel and rouge compound - shiny as they can get.[/QUOTE]
You guys odd to try this! It works like a charm!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

12K MM or go to the wheel...looks like they were melted in.

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Dave Bland

remember...

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

MicroMesh...all the way to 12K!

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

Are you guys using regular sand paper up to 1000 grit?
Sorry for the dumb questions, but is rouge a compound I can get at a Big Orange Retail Store? Clinton

Stays on the wheel Hesh, its a little softer and more pasty than menzerna .. ask a local jeweller where he buys his, its cheap, a bar thats 3/4 sq by 3 inch long, that will last you years and a couple hundred fret jobs is 6 or 7 bucks up here in the Great White North.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

rio grande is probably the biggest source for things like rouge, gravers, etc.

[QUOTE=TonyKarol] Once levelled and recrowned where necessary, tape off and do 20 strokes each of 600 then 1000 grit per fret, dry. Then hit them with a 2 inch buffing wheel on the dremel and rouge compound - shiny as they can get.[/QUOTE]

I do this as well, I just run a felt polishing wheel against a dull point to form a radius groove in the centre of the wheel, works a treat.

Cheers

Kim

MM pads all the way to 12000. I like the small buff
and rouge idea. Got to give that a try!

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

I'm with Paul, JJ and Dave. Crown the frets with a crowning file, sand to 400 (frets and board), steel wool, and then MicroMesh (the little pads) on the frets all the way to 12000. Once the file scratches are gone, moving from one MM grit to the next only takes a few seconds on each fret, and they sure are shiny when they are done.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I've been using MM up to 12K but the But I also want to try thr polishing wheel.

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

I also use the dremel wheel. I tape off the board with blue painters tape, sand with 400 to 1200 (I also use one of the little plastic sanding sticks on the fret ends), then buff with the dremel.

-Mark

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Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
OR
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I polish my frets in two steps. I first sand with 320 grit paper and then hit them with an 8" buffing wheel and grey compound. I hold the neck so the buffing wheel is parallel to the neck, or at right angles to the frets. After doing one side of the frets, I flip the neck around to get the other side. Each fret is polished real quickly because if I hesitate too long in one spot, the fret gets real hot which is probably not desirable. I recharge the buffing wheel after every three frets. This is the quickest process I have come across to get a high polish.

Wet or dry paper to 1000 then MM to 12000, but I recenly bought a 6" grinder at an auction for real cheap and will put a buff and a hard felt on it to use for small stuff like frets

Hammer 'em in and leave 'em! If the customer wanted shiny frets he should've bought an Esteban!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

That was a J-O-A-K!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

[QUOTE=L. Presnall] Hammer 'em in and leave 'em! If the customer wanted shiny frets he should've bought an Esteban![/QUOTE]



I sand up to 2000 grit, dry. Then just use a rag a bit of metal polishing compound. They end up looking like mirrors...

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

WOW! Thanks for all the great ideas! Those semi hemisherical frets I've seen must take awhile? Clinton