Refretting A Compound Radius Neck

[joek_in_jersey]

Hi All,

I am seeking some advice for refretting a compound radius neck. I have watched Dan Erlewine's videos several times and I understand the physics of the cone shaped neck. I do not plan on taking any wood of the neck. It's perfectly straight after truss rod adjustment measuring with a straight edge on the string lies.

I am planning on using the long 1" by 2" fret/fingerboard levelers sold at Stew Mac, followed by multiple radius blocks.

Does anyone know of a detailed description or web page that describes refretting and leveling a compound radius neck? Particularly how you alter the angle of the long file away from the parallel center as you move across the neck?

joe

[spazzyone]

you dont need the radius blocks if your using the long fretboard leveler

you said 1"x2" but i assume you mean 24" long leveler

just folow the string lies with a sweeping motion from the center out

as in start on the d/g strings in a strait line but finish with a sweeping motion into the b/e strings

then the b/e swept of the board and reverse for the e/a strings

and skip the file. if your neck is dead strait just use the leveling block with finer paper

on the frets and go "lightly" across the tops

if you tape off the board then use a black magic marker to blacken the fret tops

then you will see your progress. it wont take much to see the frets shine were the marker is removed

telling you that that fret is level. when all show a slight shiny line your done leveling

now remarker the fret tops and start the crowning process

the its the same thing only now you want the crowns of the frets to shine leaving

a thin evenly centerd black line along the top when you have that your done

now you just need to polish the frets

if you watched dans video's (which i have not seen) it should be pretty clear

i learned by reading his book "the guitar players repair guide"

and it was very easy to learn from it so the vids should be better

[Acousticraft]

Get one of those double edged fret files if you havent already got one. I was on my 3rd guitar before I got one and they are much quicker and make a far better job than ordinary mini files. A good investment.

[Setch]

Don't use the radius blocks. Level the frets by using full length strokes which follow the string path. ie: The strokes near the middle are parallel to the centre line, and those near the edges are parallel to the fretboard edge. Between the two you just split the difference.