Put a mirror finish on those frets.

[WRGKMC]

Tried something new the other day. No idea why I hadn't tried it sooner. Previously I always did my fret polishing by hand. I've also trued those Fret erasers and polishing wheels Stuart McDonald sells. The disks aren't bad but very tricky to use. you can easily cause flat spots and they aren't much good on super jumbo frets because they aren't wide enough.

 

I used a Dremil with the flex tool adaptor. A beginners kit like this is only $20 at Home Depot these days. Comes with some basic tools which are ideal for fine guitar work. You can even route out guitar cavities with the router bit. https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-Rota...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

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You can then use the largest Felt Pad, the one on the left in this pic.....

 

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Then you can either use Buffing compound or swirl remover.

I had plenty of the swirl remover left over for polishing finishes You can buy it in any auto parts store.

 

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You simply coat the felt disk with the swirl removed then run the Dremil tool over the frets one at a time.

The polishing job it puts on the frets will make your strings feel smooth as glass when you bend strings and you'll be amazed at how much it reduces string buzzes due to flat spots.

 

I'm usually pretty good at crowning and finishing frets. I been doing fret replacements since the 80's and prided myself on doing an excellent job. Getting that last highly polished finish has always been a pain. I'd use ultra fine Emory cloth followed by 00000 steel wool then polishing compound by hand. It can take awhile getting every fret super smooth and its easy to accidentally over do it and cause low spots if you aren't careful.

 

The Swirl remove on a felt disk has very low abrasion. It will remove the scratches on the frets without removing any additional fret material leaving behind a super polished finish. Very fast too. I doubt it took me more then 10 minutes with cleanup to do all 22 frets.

 

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One tip however. When you first apply the swirl remover its probably better to put the bulk of it on the frets themselves. If you overload the disk the high speed will spray the liquid all over the place. The way I did it was to use a paper towel over the disk until it didn't come off any more and then it was good to remove it. The disks are very cheap tp buy too. You can get a bag of 50 for a few dollars and you can probably polish a dozen guitars with a single disk.

 

Keep this in mind too. Friction is what causes fret wear. If you keep the frets highly polished, the need to replace frets can be cut in half.

The buffing also removed small string grooves on the lower frets and put crowns on them. I wasn't expecting that to happen. The grooves weren't deep but they would have eventually needed leveling and crowning to get rid of them so it saved me from that hassle. The polishing also got rid of some high spots above the 12th fret which were beginning to bug me. when I'd bend my High E it was beginning to fret out. After polishing the problem was gone and I could actually lower the strings if I wanted to.

 

Oh and it got rid of some wear marks and polished the lacquer on one of my maple fret boards too. I wont need to refinish that one as soon as I thought I would. It was starting to look nasty and the swirl remover did what it was supposed to and polish the finish.

 

[1001gear]

I used to take good care of my Ibanez RG. First electric. Masked the board and Flitzed the frets. I haven't bothered with any of the subsequent guitars.

[Chordite]

Funnily enough I have just this week bought the equivalent kit from LIDL (a german supermarket) and will give it a try. My 335 clone still has "nails on a chalkboard" frets in the lesser used areas. Great minds

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[Freeman Keller]

Chordite, be really careful that you don't burn thru plastic binding. And be really really careful if your 335 has the original nibs

[catscurlyear]

mask the wood then finest wet and dry then finish with either brasso or t cut done with loving fingers of course no power tools here

[Freeman Keller]

I feel the same. I've used a Dremel but the possibility of doing damage is just too great. 800 to 1500, then Micro Mesh and a little elbow grease.

[Chordite]

Okay guys I will err on the side of caution despite my desire to spin up the new tool.

Watched this guy slip up yesterday trying to straighten his Audi R8

I thought he was being moronic about it then the inevitable Acme and Coyote moment....

at about 7 minutes in

[video=youtube_share;eIsW_oNLZjM]

[Grant Harding]

I've been using a Dremel and polishing compound for years. I either mask the FB or use the stainless guards depending on the cost of the guitar, neck binding, etc.

[cooltouch]

Seems like a good idea. I'm sure that Meguiar's is mild enough where it's not gonna hurt anything -- but I'd mask off everything but the frets first anyway. I've owned a Dremel for over 30 years, but I've never thought to use it to polish frets. I used to polish mine the old fashioned way -- by playing the snot out of the guitar, letting the strings do the polishing work. But in my dotage I've grown less patient. So I just use some 0000 steel wool and just scrub the heck out of the frets. It works well. Cheaper than a Dremel too. Tell you what, though, I'm tempted to give the Dremel method a try. I've got a couple new guitars that could use some fret polishing.

[Grant Harding]

I've never done a single bit of damage this way. I keep the speed of the Dremel on its lowest setting. I use a thick Stewmac polishing compound as well, which doesn't get airborne as easily.

[badpenguin]

I hit them with a hammer, and threaten them!

[DeepEnd]

I've used 0000 steel wool in the past but when I polished the frets on my Fernandes I used one of those foam nail shaping/buffing blocks:

 

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Worked like a charm.

[Chordite]

Yeah they act tough when there's 24 of them but get one on its own and its a different story.

[Emory]

Always nice to see more tips on polishing. I usually use a bit wenol polishing cream and/or jewelers cloth. Best done if a good football match is on the tube. No rush, kinda like fishing. As I am in Thailand, some compounds, tools bit hard to find.

In a real pinch I'd take my git down to my dentist (she is great!) and pay for teeth cleaning but have her work out on frets.

 

[WRGKMC]

I've used these Stu Mac Fret Erasers. Very little slow work and results aren't particularly great but there's little chance of doing any major damage with them.

 

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I also have these Fret Polishing Wheels. These are much more difficult to use and you risk slipping off a fret and cutting grooves.

You use these by creating a groove in the center first using a round file, then keeping the disks centered while drawing them across smppthly is the tough part. These are made os that same eraser material which can grip too much.

 

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Of course ultra fine Emory cloth and 00000 steel wool had been my method of polishing for years. Its a bit rough on the hands and the frets but I did it that way for 45 years and still do when the need arises.

 

Using the felt pad really does a much better job polishing to a mirror finish.

 

I did my Les Paul's frets yesterday and man did they come out nice. I had no problems with the nibs at the ends of the frets.

I used more then enough of the swirl remover to keep the abrasive liquid so there was no chance creating enough friction to burn the binding or inlays. The swirl remover is mostly wax too which keeps the friction super low. Its designed for electric buffing pads used on automobiles do its unlikely to do any unwanted damage so long as you use enough. The compound does turn black quickly. Some kind of reaction to the nickel frets I suppose. It can puts one hell of a shine on a finished fret board too. Just have to use some common sense when using it.