Fret Removal Innovation?

[Wonko]

Has anyone tried sanding frets off and leaving the bottom of the fretwire in the slot as a filler/marker? How'd it work? Pitfalls?

[JohnRossitter]

Nope, never tried that.

I can't imagine that it would a smart thing to do however.

How would you sand them with them not working their way out of the slots?

Would be a whole lot of work... I know that much.

[Desopolis]

also with the tang and body being different I think you wouldnt get your smooth finish your thinking off.

LEVELING TO THE EXTREEME!

[WezV]

And even if you got it really smooth - sooner or later the you would be ale to feel the frets again, remember that wood and metal expand and contract at different rates. I reckon it would have an adverse affect on the strings

[VesQ]

wouldn´t it make refretting very difficult ?

[soapbarstrat]

Thanks for the mis-leading subject title.

[SwedishLuthier]

And even if you got it really smooth - sooner or later the you would be ale to feel the frets again, remember that wood and metal expand and contract at different rates.

Exactly

And wood and metal wear differently. I am assuming that you are thinking of doing this for a fretless bass or similar. Ste strings will soon wear out the wood, leaving the tang of the fret standing proud of the wood. The right thing to do is to remove the frets, glue in a different coloured veneer (or maybe plastic) and then level everything.