Members Freeman Keller Posted October 10, 2017 Members Share Posted October 10, 2017 I read somewhere on the internet that someone said you could polish frets with a dremel, so here I am trying it. If you look carefull at 13, 14, 16 you'll see how it nicely polished the binding next to the fret ends. Not saying you can't do it, just saying I've tried it and didn't like it. And for those of you who do the dremel trick, next time you finish a fret lay your finger on it. Hot eh? Remember that we use a little heat to loosen frets during a refret. Obviously your milage will vary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted October 10, 2017 Members Share Posted October 10, 2017 I use one of those stainless steel protector things from Stewmac to make sure nothing but the fret gets polished. It only takes a few seconds so it doesn't heat up much. I'll mask for bound fretboards - thanks for the warning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted October 10, 2017 Author Members Share Posted October 10, 2017 I read somewhere on the internet that someone said you could polish frets with a dremel, so here I am trying it. If you look carefull at 13, 14, 16 you'll see how it nicely polished the binding next to the fret ends. Not saying you can't do it, just saying I've tried it and didn't like it. And for those of you who do the dremel trick, next time you finish a fret lay your finger on it. Hot eh? Remember that we use a little heat to loosen frets during a refret. Obviously your milage will vary. My Dremel GAS has totally subsided for now...... :( Can you fix that binding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted October 10, 2017 Members Share Posted October 10, 2017 You need to mask the delicate bits and use a cloth wheel and polishing compound. The results are better bending and less wear because there's nothing for the string to key into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 11, 2017 Members Share Posted October 11, 2017 Fixed the binding so you would never know. Also resolved to be a lot more careful. Dremels are an important part of many things I do. They can be very useful for polishing but in this case I just don't think the risk is worth it. If I use compound it splatters onto the fretboard where it is very hard to clean off. I don't like the heat and I think there are other methods of polishing that work as good and don't have the issues. I was doing a setup on a strat today - while the strings were off I quickly dressed the ends of the frets, cleaned the fretboard with some steel wool, then grabbed a piece of 1200 wet and dry and gave them a little polish. Didn't even bother with the micro mesh - frets look great and it probably took all of ten minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted October 11, 2017 Members Share Posted October 11, 2017 . . . These abrasive erasers do an excellent job extremely fast. They cost about $7 and will last for at least a hundred polishing jobs or more. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n32078701[/ATTACH] My Fernandes had a divot in the third fret, probably from the same mishap that cracked the nut. I bought one of those multi sided nail buffing things from Walgreen's and used progressively finer grit to polish the fret, then finished with steel wool. The divot wasn't gone but it was between two strings and much smoother. It helped that I don't do bends. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n32079822[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted October 11, 2017 Author Members Share Posted October 11, 2017 I see. I defo wouldn't approach my guitar with one of those spinning at speed. I get what you meant now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted October 11, 2017 Author Members Share Posted October 11, 2017 You need to mask the delicate bits and use a cloth wheel and polishing compound. The results are better bending and less wear because there's nothing for the string to key into. You can achieve that with multiple sand paper grit and micromesh too. I was very surprised, the 2 guitars I've worked on now have some of the best frets I've ever encountered. Totally glide city. I'll probably be doing that (just the higher grade sand paper and micromesh to my other guitars too next time I restring them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 12, 2017 Members Share Posted October 12, 2017 One more little trick when doing fret work. I use fine steel wool (0000) to clean fretboards and often to clean the frets themselves. The steel wool will shed little pieces of steel which not only will scratch finish if you aren't careful, they will be sucked right onto the magnets of your pickups (and are hard to get off). I'm pretty lazy sometimes and don't always mask the fretboard when I work on it but I always put a piece of masking tape across the pole pieces of each pickup - when I'm done with the frets just pulling the tape will get most of the steel particles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted October 12, 2017 Members Share Posted October 12, 2017 When I first started doing fret work I used to use sharpening stones for leveling. They eventually become radiused as they wear. They are very inexpensive, in fact I bought several for a Buck a piece at a dollar store. I mainly use one when installing frets and need to remove a fair amount of fret material quickly. The weight of the stone is enough to level the frets without adding additional pressure. The ones I use, have two grits like this one. I only use the fine side on the ones I have. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n32080292[/ATTACH] I also collected some antique Barbers stones which are super fine grit. They barely remove anything at all and can even polish the tops. I sometimes use them after crowning, when I have a fret or two which are a tad high. The short one I have can span 3 frets like a rocker and I use them across the fret instead of lengthwise to take it down a single fret without affecting the others. I even have one that's a few millimeters wide which is handy when you have everything strung up and you got one pesky fret causing buzz. I can place between strings and work it across the frets flexing the strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members catscurlyear Posted October 12, 2017 Members Share Posted October 12, 2017 i use an old oil stone which belonged my grandad , it`s barely worn . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted October 12, 2017 Members Share Posted October 12, 2017 I'm unlikely to use an old stone of arbitrary shape and flatness for a job as precise as levelling frets. Why would you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members catscurlyear Posted October 12, 2017 Members Share Posted October 12, 2017 don`t know if that was directed at me ,if it was .it`s not as arbitrary as you may think, it does look old but it still has it shape and is still ok to work with i think stoning is just a matter of common sense ,you can tell its ok when you do the final check and the marker ink comes off of every fret with the lightest of touch with the stone . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted October 12, 2017 Members Share Posted October 12, 2017 Sorry I sounded snarky. I just think that level of precision suits machined metal tools way better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted October 12, 2017 Members Share Posted October 12, 2017 I'm unlikely to use an old stone of arbitrary shape and flatness for a job as precise as levelling frets. Why would you? It's pretty straight forward to check the stone with a precision straight edge and resurface if necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted October 12, 2017 Author Members Share Posted October 12, 2017 I had considered doing that. I like using them on knife, but I was wary of the way it might wear off.I'm your experience, that was good? They're also pretty messy to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted October 12, 2017 Author Members Share Posted October 12, 2017 I thought a new sharpening stone woukd wear off uniformly and should be adequate for a levelling. I hesitated though. In my experience, they wear off relatively fast, and leave quite a mess behind them. Certainly, you would need to use it strictly up and down the neck. I think it could be pretty useful, but presents some limitations too. Anyway, I wasn't 100% sure and bought a proprietary tool that I've been very pleased with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 12, 2017 Members Share Posted October 12, 2017 One tool that I've experimented with is the diamond file that I bought for sharpening ski edges. Seems to work fine, particularly for the ends of frets but a 3 dollar mill bastard file does just as good. I've got one 6 inch file that has a very slight rocker (ie, it isn't flat). I have it marked and wouldn't use it for leveling frets but it does work very well on the ends - the rocker keeps it from digging into the next fret as I work along the edge of the board. I took a setup seminar from Evan Gluck (google world's best guitar repairman) and he uses a little L shaped piece of aluminum angle with sticky back paper on it. He says he can actually spot level frets with the strings still on, the L slides under them. Says it saves a lot of time and for him, time is money. So, lots of ways to do this, lots of tools. I'm happy with files and sand paper,, steel wool and micro mesh. Whatever you do and however you do it, perfect frets are simply a joy to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members catscurlyear Posted October 13, 2017 Members Share Posted October 13, 2017 cheers Grant no problems mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members catscurlyear Posted October 13, 2017 Members Share Posted October 13, 2017 I thought a new sharpening stone woukd wear off uniformly and should be adequate for a levelling. I hesitated though. In my experience, they wear off relatively fast, and leave quite a mess behind them. Certainly, you would need to use it strictly up and down the neck.. that dosn`t sound like the stone i have ,the stone i have is.. excuse the pun, rock hard .i first got it back in the mid 80`s .i don`t do fret jobs proffesionaly so in all that time i have done at a guess maybe 50 jobs and it barely looks touched and as i said my grandad had it before me for sharpening knives and tools it may be older than me ,which makes it.. pun .. stone age . and it dosn`t leave any mess or disintegrate before your very eyes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted October 13, 2017 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2017 Defo not the same type I own. They do some lovely expensive ones that are probably bery similar to your own. Mine is the cheap variety, but has done me 15 years + of sharpening knives and still has some life in it.... but it shows a lot of wear, and not uniformly, as by nature, one sharpens knives over a smallish area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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