mj_gant Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 Hi all. Since this is my first post, let me introduce myself. My name is Merritt Gant and I live in south Jersey. I have been fascinated with the guitar since the age of 9 and started playing when I was 12. I have done some professional work, my timeline is here: http://www.bloodaudio.com/identify.php Moving on, I am planning on doing work on my guitars and others that I usually hand out to a local shop. My first project will be leveling and dressing frets. Setting truss rod, etc.... I have a very nice bench with hold down clamps and a set of straight edges, along with notched straight edges and a set of neck radius gauges. I was planning on buying one of those fret leveling tubes from stewmac, probably 16" that you stick sand paper to. What do you folks use for leveling? A big flat file? Or some fashion of a steel plate that you adhere paper to? Also, do you find radius sanding blocks to be a must have for doing good work? Thank you in advance for any input! Merritt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 I've only used a large flat file. It seems to work fine. Learned that while working for Boogie Bodies guitars and they were making some killer necks at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 You can use the Long bar Stewmac sells, its a great tool. another great tool to consider is the Diamond Levelers, they're great for spot leveling where you may only have 1 or 2 high frets that need to be leveled. Radius Sanding cauls are a definate must Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 I've tried a few different tools. Started using a long, fine bastard file but its only about 1" wide so you have to be careful at maintaining your fretboard radius. Stewmac carries sanding blocks with a variety of fret radiuses (radii). They are handy if you are worried about compromising curves. But I found that the sandpaper clogs easily. I finally settled on a 6" long stone with coarse on one side and fine on the other. Its about 2" wide so there is less lateral movement required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 14, 2003 Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 For YEARS, I've used a Ken Donnel fret plane I bought from stewmac in 1987. It's about 13" long, and about 3 inches wide (I'm not going into the shop right now to measure). With glass bottom that's very flat, and you can clip sandpaper on it, but i often use adhesive backed sandpaper on it, which makes it work even more precise . I also made a pile of radius sanding blocks with a special jig I made years ago. I made sure they were very flat lengthwise. But, I don't like them so much anymore, since I prefer to level the board following the path of the strings, to get a "compound" radius. The radius blocks are no good for this method. I was planning on buying one of those bars from stew-mac, but then I got the idea to use my precision straight edge as a router guide, and I made my own 18" leveling block out of a heavy piece of oak. I'ts basically like a precision machined wood block. I love how heavy it is. With the weather changes, I have to keep checking it against my straight-edge, and when I see it's gone off from being dead flat, it isn't getting used until I re-machine it again. The Donnel plane does absolutely fine, though. Doesn't matter all that much which tools you prefer, it's the final end product that counts. I play around with different methods, tools and ideas that pop into my head, but the end result must always be the same. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj_gant Posted December 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 Thank you for sharing your techniques-tools. I do think I will try the stewmac 16" leveling tube. I found a supplier of 3m stikit that is very reasonable here: http://www.brownstar.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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