Jump to content

Fret Dressing


Recommended Posts

for dressing the frets i use the only method i was exposed to; long flat bastard file;

supposedly using a coarse shapening stone (6-8'') is much better at removing metal and leaves less 'file' gouges in the fret itself making polishing a less involved task'

has anyone done this before?

i hammer in my frets so sometimes theres a dent that i just level down to; is that too much to remove for a stone?

it seems like a gentler job; the only thing i dont like is how wide they are; your radius turns into a triangle!?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Melvyn Hiscock does exactly that in his book. Havn't tried it myself

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use a stone for fret levelling, one side coarse grit and the other fine. Its best to check the face(s) of the stone with a straight edge prior to levelling. After several uses (don't know how many) the stone will wear down and the face will become uneven. I've also used a medium bastard file, works ok, just difficult to hold onto.

I don't like hammering frets with just a hammer anymore. I use a small steel block and tap on that with a hammer to spread the impact force a little bit. It works ok, and you don't have to tap it very hard where it will deform the fret crown. A brass block would be even better as brass is softer than steel and it will deform before the steel. Either way, you shouldn't have to hit the fret hard enough to cause any deformations.

If you get it right the first time, ie. method used to install each fret is near identical, then levelling / crowning may be unnecessary. :D Thats where clamping with a fret caul and drill press, set at a specific depth, is ideal.

Edited by Southpa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use a dimond sharpening stone to level and it works good. I have used a file and it works good. I hammer my frets(although I can see how pressing is a great way to go). You are hitting the frets too hard if you are dinging them up, and a light brass hammer is the way to go. Be sure your slots are cut to the correct width, are straight, deep enough, clean and put a slight bevel on the top edge of the slot. Leveleing should not remove much material if the frets are brand new.

Peace,Rich

Link to comment
Share on other sites

your radius turns into a triangle!?

Never has for me, when using something flat. Suppose it could end up something like that, if you have a horrible "brute force" technique, although I'd be amazed if someone managed to screw up like that to the point that they really destroy the radius of the frets. These days I wouldn't buy a stone for doing this. If you already have one, them maybe, but you'd probably need to flatten it out first, if you've been using that stone for other stuff, so why bother (might as well level the frets with whatever you would use to flatten the stone).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use a surface ground aluminum sanding block with 3m 400 grit sticky backed sandpaper. Goes plently quick, but not so fast that its difficult either. Then touch them with 600 grit. 600 scratches are easy to polish out. I think most stones would be too slow for my patience.... I only have fine diamond and 2000-4000 japanese waterstones.. I wont risk uneven grinding of the japanese stones to level frets... Those are for quality edged tools only.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have tried various methods for dressing frets. An oil stone is pretty coarse and too short for my liking even on the fine side but they are great for dressing the fret ends flush at 45 degrees.

For my latest build I bought a long radius block and glued on 400 paper but that didn't work that well either.

In the end I found a thick 2" wide MDF off cut slightly longer than the fingerboard that was dead flat and glued on 400 grit paper with a paper glue stick that is good as it is easy to remove if you need to put on some fresh sand paper.

Using permanent marker pen on the frets I could soon see when all frets were leveled off. I then re-profiled them using my fret file which is a must if you want evenly shaped frets. I just left a faint line on the tops which I polished with 1500 grit paper then used metal polish to get them gleaming. Of course I first masked up the fret board to prevent scratches and dirt on the fingerboard.

This method worked well and my frets are nice and even with no buzzes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...