Frets

[savethematches]

So, I have a neck through body project from my new luthier buddy Bob Wallace. No routing or drilling on the body or neck, pretty much like scuttling board. The neck has jumbo frets installed but not filed down on the edges. How does one go about putting a consistent bevel on each fret end?

Cutting board. Stupid auto correct!

[Victor (Fret Friend)]

It can be done by hand with a small file else you can get them consistently angled by using a 35 degree file like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bevel-File-Guitar-Tool-Fret-Bevel-File-Luthier-Tool-TF013-/170905619352?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27cac4cb98 to get you started (you then finish rounding off by hand)...

[Uncle Thor's Hamer]

Get one of the fret bevel files to put the angle on the frets. Then you'll need a fret end file to smooth it out. StewMac sells good stuff. Their fret end file is quite good. One edge is rounded, which helps in not damaging the fret board. Both that edge and the opposite edge have no cutting teeth. The other two sides have the file teeth.

This is the really important part: You can easily damage the top of your guitar with the edge bevel file. Read that again and feel really nervous! You have to protect the top surface of your guitar. Blue tape, thick butcher's paper, card stock cut to shape, etc. Something to protect it! Equally important is to be sure the edges of the file are ground smooth. Bevel files are made from regular files by grinding off the teeth on the narrow edges. Be sure it is really smooth. Just taking the sharp tops off of the teeth is not enough. Use your own bench grinder if you need to.

I refretted several guitars last summer/fall and documented it on the Ovation forum. Lots of pictures and notes there for you to see exactly what you need to know to do the bevel and end filing. I also recommend when to use blue tape along the edge of the fretboard and on the surface of the fretboard. http://www.ovationfanclub.com/megabbs/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=40319&posts=21&start=1

If your frets are goldish in color you probably have EVO frets which are harder but not as hard as stainless. They are a joy to work with, easier than nickel silver. Here's some info on finishing EVO gold frets http://www.ovationfanclub.com/megabbs/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=40376&posts=17&start=1

Link to StewMac fret end dressing file: http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Fretting/Shaping_and_crowning/Fret_End_Dressing_File.html

Link to StewMac fret bevel file: http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Fretting/Shaping_and_crowning/Fret_Beveling_File.html

This is the fret bevel file I got, cheaper than StewMac. The edges weren't fully smoothed and I had to hit it with my bench grinder. Maybe I just got a bad one, but if you don't have a grinder I don't recommend this brand. Otherwise I was quite happy with it. http://www.cbgitty.com/fretting-supplies/small-fret-bevel-file-4-3-4-inch/

[Victor (Fret Friend)]

You can get good bevel files & luthier tools way cheaper than Stewmac are selling stuff for! I only use StewMac as a last resort (which is nigh-on never nowadays)...

[Duplex Dave]

You can get good bevel files & luthier tools way cheaper than Stewmac are selling stuff for! I only use StewMac as a last resort (which is nigh-on never nowadays)...

Some necessary tools are only available at StewMac, but this has been changing over the last few years. Search them out there are good lutherie tools elsewhere. Amplified parts.com, eBay, LMI. StewMac is great at selling you things that you don't need...

[Uncle Thor's Hamer]

You can get good bevel files & luthier tools way cheaper than Stewmac are selling stuff for! I only use StewMac as a last resort (which is nigh-on never nowadays)...

True. Luthiers Mercantile is a pretty good source. Almost everything is available on Amazon, which is a good place to do some price comparisons and get leads to other online sources. StewMac has some tools and supplies which can't be found elsewhere, and conversely sometimes other places have stuff which is a lot better than StewMac.

Hobby stores (trains, models, etc) have all kinds of glues, paints, dyes, little brushes, etc at cheap prices. A good woodworking shop will have various finishing supplies as well as tons of cool tools.

When I've shopped around on the internet, the shipping costs to buy one thing elsewhere cheaper than StewMac will raise the cost well above just buying it from StewMac. So if I'm already buying tools from StewMac, I usually end up buying almost everything there.