Refretting/Crowning Tools.

[santucci218]

Recently had the urge to learn to do fretwork. I don't currently need to do any refrets on my guitars, But I know they will need them in the future, and I also thought that learning this would be great if I bought a cheaper guitar and wanted it to play better. I went to stewmac and came across this..

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Is there anything else that I HAVE TO HAVE. I assume a radius sanding block would help if I was doing a full refret, but what about just for dressing frets. recrowning. Fixing a high fret. Cleaning up frets sticking out from the fingerboard end. I'm no noob to how a guitar works, but I will surely not start on my $2,000 Les Paul either. Any tips to ease into this kind of stuff? Thank you much!

 

[santucci218]

Also, I see some people buffing frets after all the sanding and such to get a really smooth end feel. What dremel tips do you use for this?

 

[96tbird]

I saw a utube vid where on guy leveled one fret and polished it with these: Invalid Link Removed

He gets it done so fast, a dremel seems like overkill. Those pads go down to grit like 0000 steel wool without the mess

Here's the vid Level a high fret - YouTube Shows you how to crown, etc. with simple files.

You know, $180 seems prtty pricey for stuff you can find at a hardware store. One pro tech on TB uses a toenail clipper ground down to pull frets!

 

[senp5f]

This is just my personal opinion here, but I really think fret work is more about technique that tools. I'm sure the StewMac kit is good (I've had good experiences with their stuff), but in general the only specialized too you need that you can't get at the hardware store is a fret crowning file, and StewMac's is a good one. As for the radius blocks, I don't think they are necessary. For your first adventures, a sharpening stone works fine as a hillbilly leveling file! And you can modify some general files by having a buddy with a belt sander take a few of the edges off for you, and have that same buddy grind down some cheap end nippers for you. That's all StewMac does.

Cheaper way to go:

Fret file, $38:
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Hammer, $7:
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General Files, $6.50:
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Hillbilly leveling, $1:

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Needle files, $5:

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End nippers, $7:

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Grand total: $65, before shipping. Save yourself $100 and find a buddy with a good belt sander.

 

[santucci218]

This is just my personal opinion here, but I really think fret work is more about technique that tools. I'm sure the StewMac kit is good (I've had good experiences with their stuff), but in general the only specialized too you need that you can't get at the hardware store is a fret crowning file, and StewMac's is a good one. As for the radius blocks, I don't think they are necessary. For your first adventures, a sharpening stone works fine as a hillbilly leveling file! And you can modify some general files by having a buddy with a belt sander take a few of the edges off for you, and have that same buddy grind down some cheap end nippers for you. That's all StewMac does.

Cheaper way to go:

Fret file, $38:
Invalid Link Removed

Hammer, $7:
Invalid Link Removed

General Files, $6.50:
Invalid Link Removed

Hillbilly leveling, $1:

Invalid Link Removed

Needle files, $5:

Invalid Link Removed

End nippers, $7:

Invalid Link Removed

Grand total: $65, before shipping. Save yourself $100 and find a buddy with a good belt sander.

Dumb question. To knock off the sharp edges of the frets, what file do you use as to not file the fretboard as well?

Also, the sharpening stone, youre saying drag that across all the frets, then use a stewmac crowning file to get them into shape, then resand them with those microfiber cloths?

 

[96tbird]

YouTube has good videos on all this stuff. Doing the ends with a file and not messing the wood up is a skill more than a tool and shaping the ends is a big part of it. You need to read a lot and watch videos of pros doing it before you begin. Like you say find a cheap crap instrument to learn the skills with.

 

[santucci218]

YouTube has good videos on all this stuff. Doing the ends with a file and not messing the wood up is a skill more than a tool and shaping the ends is a big part of it. You need to read a lot and watch videos of pros doing it before you begin. Like you say find a cheap crap instrument to learn the skills with.

I'm buying a 75 dollar strat copy at the end of the month. I'm getting ready!

 

[senp5f]

Not a dumb question at all! As 96tbird said, it's really about skill. However, there are somethings you can do to help. You can try taping the wood off with that blue painters masking tape. Or, better yet, buy these fretboard protectors from StewMac. It will easily be the best $11 you've ever spent if you start working on really nice instruments:

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That's a great idea to buy a cheap guitar to learn on. I would recommend you buy and read the Guitar Player Repair Guide. It's by Dan Erlewine, who does a ton of work with StewMac. In it, he recommends that you basically by every busted up, non-working piece of junk guitar you can find on the cheap and make it your mission to restore it to good sound and play-ability. Like the previous poster said, these are really more about skill and touch. But that's what we're good at as bass players, right?

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210

 

[santucci218]

Not a dumb question at all! As 96tbird said, it's really about skill. However, there are somethings you can do to help. You can try taping the wood off with that blue painters masking tape. Or, better yet, buy these fretboard protectors from StewMac. It will easily be the best $11 you've ever spent if you start working on really nice instruments:

Invalid Link Removed

That's a great idea to buy a cheap guitar to learn on. I would recommend you buy and read the Guitar Player Repair Guide. It's by Dan Erlewine, who does a ton of work with StewMac. In it, he recommends that you basically by every busted up, non-working piece of junk guitar you can find on the cheap and make it your mission to restore it to good sound and play-ability. Like the previous poster said, these are really more about skill and touch. But that's what we're good at as bass players, right?

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210

I already own the book, read a good amount of it, and got it spiral bound for easier access! Guess you're right! Forgot I owned it for a second, haha. Ill read the fret section then come back if I have any other questions.

 

[bunnykeeper]

I'm also getting ready to jump in. According to Invalid Link Removed, you really only need two tools: a sanding block and a crowning file. I picked up a diamond crowning file on eBay the other day and am waiting for it to arrive.

 

[bunnykeeper]

...Dan Erlewine, who does a ton of work with StewMac. In it, he recommends that you basically buy every busted up, non-working piece of junk guitar you can find on the cheap...

Seems like he also recommends you buy every Stew-Mac tool, no matter how expensive.

 

[202dy]

Fret work is a game of thousandths. Corian isn't flat. It can be ground flat. It bends under load. It will bend if not stored in a completely flat container that can bear the load of the Corian. Not recommended.

As far as purchasing expensive tools goes, it is always befuddling that when precision work is to be performed, some complain about the price of precision tools. If the goal is correcting a problem that requires skill and precision, why search for tools that are only just good enough?

The answer is that everyone wants to save money. A good fret dress performed by a pro costs $125 to $200.00USD depending on location and skill. The tools to do the job right cost just about the same. When the job is done the tools are stored for the next time. Isn't that bargain enough?

 

[lethargytartare]

The answer is that everyone wants to save money. A good fret dress performed by a pro costs $125 to $200.00USD depending on location and skill. The tools to do the job right cost just about the same. When the job is done the tools are stored for the next time. Isn't that bargain enough?

$200 For the tools or the job can be an amazing bargain -- but a person still might not be able to afford it. Saving $35 might not mean much to one person, and might be significant to another.

My experience and opinion -- quality crowning files are absolutely better than the cheap alternatives I've found, and worth every penny. Diamond offset crowning file was the best tool I've ever used for the job (in a class). But I still don't own one (at $100) -- I own a standard stewmac $38 file. If it were my day job, I'd get the offset in a heartbeat.

 

[202dy]

$200 For the tools or the job can be an amazing bargain -- but a person still might not be able to afford it. Saving $35 might not mean much to one person, and might be significant to another.

That is correct. However, it is better to wait, save, and then purchase a good tool than to spend money on junk. The cheap, poorly made tool costs more than than the more expensive, well made one. There are several reasons for this. Once the purchaser sees how hard it is to use the cheap tool will invariably end up tossed in a box never to be used again. The difficulty of using the cheap tool will, unless the user has very good skills, usually show up in the quality of the finished product. The right tool will then be purchased. Or the workpiece will be taken to a pro to fix the damage caused by using the wrong tool. Either way, the cheap tool costs more.

My experience and opinion -- quality crowning files are absolutely better than the cheap alternatives I've found, and worth every penny. Diamond offset crowning file was the best tool I've ever used for the job (in a class). But I still don't own one (at $100) -- I own a standard stewmac $38 file. If it were my day job, I'd get the offset in a heartbeat.

Correct again. The standard Stew-Mac file is a quality tool and does a good job. Diamonds are faster. A diamond file pays for itself only if the tool is used often. One or two fret dressings a year might not warrant purchasing a more expensive file. One or two a month and it is time to bite the bullet.

 

[JLS]

quality crowning files are absolutely better than the cheap alternatives I've found, and worth every penny. Diamond offset crowning file was the best tool I've ever used for the job (in a class). But I still don't own one (at $100) -- I own a standard stewmac $38 file. If it were my day job, I'd get the offset in a heartbeat.

I splurged on both of the offset files earlier this year--having gotten over 10 years out of my older diamond files--and haven't regretted it for a nanosecond! I gave my old ones to another repair guy.

These days, I use a metal guard under each fret, and hog off metal with a safety ground cantsaw file, then go to the crowning files. The last level/recrown I did last week, I tried doing individual frets, right up to polish, rather than one operation at a time on all of them, and was very pleased with the way that job went. A little doublestick tape on the bottom of the metal guard really helps.