Perfectly Rounded Fret ends

[Bruce Johnson]

I believe that Stew-Mac's fret polishing wheels, which we talked about above, are made by Cratex. If not, they are made by some competitor. Carbide particles mixed in rubber to make abrasive disks. I'm familiar with Cratex wheels from metal polishing; they work great. I spent many hours of my youth using them in die grinders to polish out the ports in racing engines.

 

[chinjazz]

I believe that Stew-Mac's fret polishing wheels, which we talked about above, are made by Cratex. If not, they are made by some competitor. Carbide particles mixed in rubber to make abrasive disks. I'm familiar with Cratex wheels from metal polishing; they work great. I spent many hours of my youth using them in die grinders to polish out the ports in racing engines.

Thanks for the tidbit. I ordered the pink/red ones.. Wasn't a big deal. Maybe next time I'll hunt down the competitor for better pricing

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I got my wheel in the mail just now, let's get to it!

You may want to break it in a bit by sanding on the corner of a piece of hardwood. Get a groove started in the middle of it, which will help you stay on the edge of the fingerboard. Mine has a deep groove worn in the middle of it, and it still cuts fine.

 

[manupulated]

This tread got here at a great time , got two neck to fret on the bench

 

[chinjazz]

This is awesome! I can’t wait till mine arrives!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I was looking in my files for something else, and stumbled across a picture of me using one of these Combi-Flap Wheels, rounding off the ends of the frets. In case some of you aren't fully picturing what we are talking about here.

You can see the notch worn in the wheel. Not a difficult process. Fairly slow speed of the wheel, a gentle feed down the edge of the neck. That does one side of the fret ends. Then reverse the drill motor so it's angled up over the fingerboard, and a slow feed back down towards you. That rounds the other side of the fret ends on this side of the neck. Turn the neck around and do the same two passes down the other side.

 

[Jisch]

or you could go the same direction twice and reverse the motor, right?

 

[Bruce Johnson]

or you could go the same direction twice and reverse the motor, right?

No, because the Combi-Flap Wheel only goes one direction of rotation. Abrasive is only on one side of the paper (cloth, actually) flaps. And they are pre-curved to go one way.

 

[Jisch]

ah, thanks.

 

[chinjazz]

Thanks for posting the pic!

Looking forward to trying it. I can tell it’s going to produce nice results.

 

[rojo412]

Mine just showed up today

 

[chinjazz]

Thank you @Bruce Johnson !

Your method, instruction using Combi-flap worked great! My variable speed drill doesn’t lock at the lower 500 rpm so I needed to utilize a concerted effort with thumbs, palms arms as levers to get it to a steady motion.

My clamping wasn’t perfect but usable:

Ideally the top clamp handles need to be out of the way on top so you can rest your hand or palm on it as a steady guide. On the bottom I had my hand running along the neck back as another steady guide.

I didn’t have time to get pics up close of the fb edge (got the neck under tape now for re-leveling/crowning now).

I practiced on a Squier neck which came out good enough for getting the hang of it.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Great! That's more heavily jigged up than what I do, but you've added some extra measure of safety. I've done it enough times that I just hold the drill by hand and guide it down the edge of the neck. Carefully. I have the neck clamped in one of my neck horse fixtures.

You're seeing that you don't have to keep going over and over the fret ends with the Combi-Flap Wheel. If you've filed the bevel neatly, one or two light passes with the Combi-Flap wheel is enough to make them feel smooth. Don't overdo it.

 

[chinjazz]

Great! That's more heavily jigged up than what I do, but you've added some extra measure of safety. I've done it enough times that I just hold the drill by hand and guide it down the edge of the neck. Carefully. I have the neck clamped in one of my neck horse fixtures.

You're seeing that you don't have to keep going over and over the fret ends with the Combi-Flap Wheel. If you've filed the bevel neatly, one or two light passes with the Combi-Flap wheel is enough to make them feel smooth. Don't overdo it.

Yes, I might have done a bit too much in spots which is ok since this will be my bass. Also, because the frets were already installed there wasn’t a starting bevel but what I did to help a bit was to re-bevel the frets and slightly get down to the rosewood board. Took notes for the next neck to lightly bevel the board before installing the frets.

 

[Jisch]

I haven't used mine yet, I just have to buck up and do it

 

[chinjazz]

I haven't used mine yet, I just have to buck up and do it

It definitely helps if your drill can lock at the speed of choice, mine locks only at the highest speed.

 

[Jisch]

I was thinking of putting it in my drill press, then moving the neck along the table. Fixed speed at least. My drill has two speeds, hmmm, I'll have to see what the low speed is, it might be around 500.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I was thinking of putting it in my drill press, then moving the neck along the table. Fixed speed at least. My drill has two speeds, hmmm, I'll have to see what the low speed is, it might be around 500.

There's nothing magic about my recommendation of 500 rpm. You can run the Combi-Flap Wheel at a faster speed if you want to. I've just found it to be more controllable at the slower speed. I have one of the Sioux angle drills, which is variable speed, slow speed range. That's the one I normally use for this operation.

I've done it in the drill press a couple of times. It works, but you have to be careful. I recall that I was using the drill press during one of my instances where I slipped and was forced to emit great profanities. A learning experience.

 

[chinjazz]

There's nothing magic about my recommendation of 500 rpm. You can run the Combi-Flap Wheel at a faster speed if you want to. I've just found it to be more controllable at the slower speed. I have one of the Sioux angle drills, which is variable speed, slow speed range. That's the one I normally use for this operation.

I've done it in the drill press a couple of times. It works, but you have to be careful. I recall that I was using the drill press during one of my instances where I slipped and was forced to emit great profanities. A learning experience.

Thanks for the clarification on speed. I do find it easier to manage at the lower one. Glad you brought up using an angle drill. It'll be a more manageable operation with one of those I believe. I've got a normal drill, and it's locking mechanism only locks at the max speed. I'll check around for cheaper than Sioux ones that can lock at lower speeds. Thanks!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

If I didn't mention it before, don't use much pressure on the Combi-Flap Wheel. It isn't necessary. Glide over it lightly. The light slapping of the sandpaper flaps will take care of rounding off the fret ends. Pressing down harder on the wheel will round off the edge of the fingerboard more. You probably don't want that, unless you are deliberately going for a heavily worn neck feel.