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I do pretty well with my fret leveling process, but I'd like to take it a little further. I'm interested in hearing from anyone using a Dremel type buffing wheel and compounds to finish off the frets. With the fretboard taped off, after leveling and re-crowning, I typically use sandpaper and go through the grits from 220 to 2,000. Then I finish off with Stew-Mac fret erasers. The frets come out well with this process, but I see builders doing final power buffing with a small Dremel type wheel. If you do buff, what sanding grits do you stop at, and what compounds do you use on the buffer? Thanks in advance and stay safe.-Bob

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

Here's a StewMac guide:

https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-ideas ... shaft.html

I go through the grits 320, 400, 600, 800 then scrub the whole board down with a white Scotch-Brite pad. I finish it off with Howards Feed and Wax. Done.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I tried it a couple times. I was just using the Dremel itself and not a flex shaft and it kept wanting to jump off which was annoying. I've been meaning to try it again with a flex shaft. It would be great if there was some way to put a handle with a bearing on the other side sort of like a rolling pin sander.

I think I just sanded to 220 and then used both of the wheels. They polished up real nice.

Pat

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Pat

I sand with 400 and 800 grit and then hit them with the Dremel buffer and gray compound. Quick but effective.

I used to use two grades of jewellers rouge with a Dremel flex shaft, but then a friend showed me how to use Autosol instead and I've never gone back. Makes a mirror finish with 1/2 the work of the rouge.

I borrowed Brian Howard's method (mostly). After crowning and while the board is still taped up I go over it with maroon, gray and then white scotchbrite. The last step is a dedicated buff used on a SM buffer with fine polish on it.

The whole process takes 10 - 15 minutes at most.

If I really want a chrome bumper shine I use Flitz.

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Sorry, I was referring to these wheels for Dremel.

Pat

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Pat

I'm using Autosol as well. Great results, but I've been wanting to try rouge for some time. Guess I'll pass on this one thanks to you.

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Pierre Castonguay

These are the kind I use:

https://www.amazon.com/Dremel-414-Polishing-Wheel-Diameter/dp/B00004UDH1/ref=sr_1_18?crid=ILIRN278XNQG&dchild=1&keywords=dremel+buffing+pads&qid=1611456287&sprefix=dremel+buffing%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-18#

I make passes from both sides of the fret, angling the Dremel just above the fretboard.

Barry- Those sound like huge jumps to me, 400 to 800 to gray compound, not to mention that stopping at just 800 grit seems amazing in itself. What is the gray compound? Also I see there are a couple of posts that mention Autosol. Looks like it is a paste. Not messy? I see it on Amazon, so guess I'll have to try it. A never ending array of things to buy and try! Thanks again for the responses. -Bob

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

Auto sol is, AFAIK, used on chrome bumpers. It is very gentle. I use it while the fretboard is still taped, or with ones those slotted metal fretboard protectors and do a few at a time, wiping clean as I go. It restores dulled and tarnished frets in no time so I use it as part of a major setup as well.

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Pierre Castonguay

Yes, those are huge jumps but is sufficient to get to a high gloss, and quickly. By the way, the sandpaper is P rated 3M Gold Fre-Cut, which seems to require less attention to using each grit. I think you can skip a grit or two and the finer stuff cuts enough to remove coarse sanding scratches.

The gray compound is just a wax bar that I bought from Woodcraft 40 years ago. I have also used a red rouge compound bar which works just as well. I have polished hundreds of sets of frets over the years and am always looking for ways to improve and speed up the process. I am not as fast as I used to be but it takes me about 45 minutes to level, crown, sand and buff a set of frets. But remember, my recommendations on finish buffing did not work for you so buyer beware. ;-) But I recommend you give it a try and see if it works for you. Could save a lot of time.

Edit: I think that another benefit of my short sanding schedule is that there is less of an opportunity to over-sand the frets and loose my level surface.

Color me surprised at the complexity of some of the polishing methods being posted. I've never used a Dremel to polish the frets at all, and never used more than 3 different grits of sandpaper to get the shine up on the frets once they were leveled (or merely cleaned up). Time is money in a repair shop, and if you are taking more than an hour to polish out a fretboard, or using a lot of materials and machinery - I think you are losing money on the job (unless you are charging some seriously premium prices).

Shiny frets are nice, but in 5 minutes playing time there will be enough finger oils deposited to negate all your intense work.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I spent 30 plus years doing thousands of repairs, along with building, selling lutherie supplies, and doing other craft work to pay the bills. The last 10-15 years I've only done building.I totally understand the 'time is money" deal, and it works for many folks. Personally i don't buy it. If someone looks at some part of my work and they think it's bad, it's not because I follow "time is money" it's because I did not know how to do the job better. I always look to get better, which sometimes means faster and sometimes doesn't. If you get better at what you do, it raises the dollar value of your work, so you can afford for some jobs to get slower, not faster.

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

Bob, I sure appreciate your perspective and experience of trying so many things and willing to share!

Pat

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Pat

I use an angle grinder with buffing wheel. Dremel wheel wore out too fast.

Using green or red compound you can polish all the frets to a high shine straight from the fret file (assuming you have not suffered any chattering). Just be careful and be mindful of the rotation of the tool so you don't damage anything.

I don't tape the fretboard up unless it's maple. The fretboard gets some polishing too. Everything comes out with a liberal application of naptha.

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Yeah, the dremel buffs wear out after a guitar or two but they are only a couple of bucks each. Not a huge expense. Sorry, Tai, but an angle grinder is too much tool for the job in my view. I also always tape off the fretboard. May not be necessary, but it is my process and I am sticking to it.

I also always tape off fret boards. I put StewMac low-tack tape on headplates and on the body around the fret board too. Anywhere I might slip with a tool. It's cheap insurance in my opinion and since I do it every time it doesn't take very long. Tape comes off of the fret board before I go over everything with the white Scotch Brite (except maple boards).

I used to buff the frets to a mirror finish but no one seemed to care, kind of like semi-hemispherical fret ends.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

400 lightly if needed, then 600 or 800 whatever is handy.

I've always done a healthy 0000 steel wool rub down then I use a 1" dia x 1/4 thick buff/polish with white compound.

I almost exclusively us stainless fretwire. I just ordered a bag of 100 of the buffing wheels on amazon for <$20. Foredom flex shaft is the tool.

Those buffing wheels last for 5+ fret jobs. The board is taped and I use the slotted board protectors and you can get fairly aggressive. Especially aggressive on the fret ends makes finishing the ends pretty easy.

I like the frets well polished, just adds to the jewelry effect and makes the job look like attention was paid to detail.

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

Steel wool is THE DEVIL.
Please switch to Scotchbrite.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Curious what your dislike of steel wool is Chris?

I've been using it on frets and fingerboards, polishing shell for years with no issues. I use Liberon brand wool, good quality and oil free.

Don't use it for some stuff like with water base finishes, or in finishing in general. But for frets and fingerboard cleanup I love it.

Although I have scotchbrite, I've just never liked it. For one, you can't ball it up like steel wool and apply it very accurately and it doesn't get into corners very well. I like scotchbrite for cleaning rusty metal but don't use it for instruments much.

Still, very interested in the reasons behind your dislike. Maybe I'm missing something.

Thanks in advance.

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

Steel wool rusts.
Steel wool conducts electricity (great for shorting out electronics of all kinds).
Steel wool breaks down into little crumbs that find their way into the most unfortunate places - like under fingernails, into finishes and carpet and other fabrics, basically contaminating entire areas - especially if you use a brush or blowing air to clean up.
Steel wool SUCKS.

Scotchbrite is plastic and abrasive, comes in a big variety of grits, and doesn't cause a myriad of problems.
If you MUST use a metal wool - use brass wool. It sucks, too - but at least it doesn't rust.

People use steel wool because it's cheap, and they aren't thinking what happens when they use it.
Thinking people use Scotchbrite.

Clear?

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Preach it.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

No problem with clarity in your answer Chris.

Since I don't use it with water, or blow dirt around my shop to clean up as I suck it up instead, or clean circuit boards with it, and no carpets in my shop cause they hold everything evil. Thanks for the clarification, I was worried for a minute there but it looks like I lucked out.

Can I still appreciate your posts even if I don't always agree?

Have a good one Chris!

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED