Fretwork Processes...

Hey everyone,

I could use some advice as far as the fretting process is concerned. I’ve been doing guitar repair since around 2008, I opened my business doing guitar repair in September of 2021, and I’ve always felt that fretwork has been the most challenging part of this job. I’m getting to the point now where I finally feel like I’m getting the hang of it, but I’m not where I want to be yet. I should mention that I use the Erlewine Neck Jig which has made things a lot easier for me in general. There are a few areas that I still feel like I’m still struggling with and I’d like to break down the process into three parts: Levelling, crowning, and polishing.

Levelling:

During this process I tend to prefer using a 24” aluminum sanding beam (the StewMac kind) and I typically begin with 220 grit paper. I feel like this is a course enough grit to take down material without really hogging it off. I’m wondering however if this is an advisable first step? I know others tend to use a file to knock down the high spots and then switch over to a beam once things are more closely in line. With my current style, I feel like I tend to take off a lot of material on some frets and not a lot on others, and I’m concerned that I get an uneven playing surface where the overall fret heights are “high” in some places, and “medium” in others. I may be overthinking it but it’s crossed my mind.

Once I get things level, I typically leave the frets at 220 and move onto the next step which is…

Crowning:

For crowning I tend to prefer using the large 9” 3 corner dressing file from StewMac. I feel like whenever I level the frets there are always a few that become kind of short, wide, rectangles and this file helps me add a new crown. I don’t feel like any traditional or modern crowning files would allow me to work on frets of this shape and that’s a big hang up for me. I find it rare when a sub $2000 guitar has frets that need just a glancing pass. I usually find them to be way out for a variety of reasons.

One problem with the 3 corner file is that it tends to leave fairly aggressive tooling marks. At this point I tend to use 180 sand paper on a sanding stick to eliminate these marks. This leads into the next section which is…

Polishing:

Here’s how I go through the grits. I alternate between polishing the fret tops, and then the fret crowns. I’ll go from 220 on the tops and 180 on the crowns, then 220 on the crowns. From here I’ll go to 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, 3000, 5000, 7000, and then a buffing compound and a foam polishing pad on an orbital sander. I’m not quite pleased with this process however. I’m not getting the shine that I’m looking for and I’m not sure why. I’ll include a picture of what my frets look like when they’re done. I feel like there’s a dullness and just a kind of rough presentation to the frets.

I’ve also noticed that when I restring the guitar and play on the frets for the first time, I get some “cross grain” scratches, particularly from the bottom strings when bending. I find this troubling so soon after going through this process and I’d like to know if this is normal, or if I’m doing something wrong.

One question I had in relation to this which may sound odd, but I’m wondering if frets such as nickel silver or stainless steel, have a “grain direction” to them? And if rubbing the strings across the frets by bending them causes “cross grain scratches”, similar to wood. If I use my beam sander and sand in parallel with the strings and perpendicular to the frets, would this account for anything?

Anyway, I know this is a lot but any insights you all could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Looth Group!

-David