Question about fret end sanding block files.
 

I see some short blocks and longer ones.
Is there any important advantage for either one?
Stewmac sells 3-3/4" and 7-1/2" versions.

https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tool...ling-file.html

I'm using a home made 5" fret file for leveling frets. It gives me more control with location and I can use a much lighter pressure to gain the precision I strive for.


https://i.imgur.com/kWyqZ84.jpg

All it cost me was the price of the file and some free scrap wood from Home Depot.


Ron

I think he's talking about the angled file for getting the fret end bevel even across the length of the FB. I would get the longer one. I use a fret leveling beam for this application and it's something like 18in long I think. Seems to me the longer the better for this.

A thought
 

I can imagine short blocks being used to shape the odd replacement fret without involving more of the neighboring fret ends than needed to get conformity.

This makes sense, thanks. Looks like I'll go with the longer one.

Pretty much this, i'm doing my first fret job.

Unless you are planning on doing numerous fret jobs, I'd suggest saving your money. This isn't an essential tool. It might be nice to have, if one does a lot of fret work.

I use a standard $10 mill file and, for finishing, standard sharpening stones - diamond or dry water or oil stones. It isn't so onerous a job to move a file (or stone) back and forth at a more or less constant angle. If you want the frets rounded on the ends, then you will change the angle anyway as you slide the file back and forth.

I have been repairing guitars professionally for 36 years, and I have found the Stew Mac catalog to be littered with useless tools. I do have a few of them, but this one would be of very limited use in my shop. A friend brought a similar bevelling file mounted in UHMW polyethylene, and it had an annoying trait that kept me from ever using it again. Fret filings would get embedded in the plastic, causing scratches on the tops of the frets that I had to sand out.
I do vary the angle that I file the fret ends, depending on the situation. Some customers want the fret ends to be almost vertical, to allow for more usable width when spacing the strings at the nut. A standard mill file works just fine.

A thought
 

I have the opinion that S-M ia the best source for lefthanded screwdrivers...

home made
 

I made that fret file from a $8.00 ******* file and some free scrap lumber from Home Depot.
I think they want something like $35 or $40 bucks for the exact same thing.


Ron

While I agree, I think it only fair to add that they do sell some very useful tools along with the many they sell that aren't.

Tools that I find to be the equivalent of left-handed screwdrivers others might find useful, resulting in some latitude in what portion of their tools aren't useful. For example, I have zero use for a straight edge notched to fit over frets. Others have stated that they own one and find it useful. Often, it is difficult to determine if one of their new tools is just the latest gimmick or whether it is actually an improvement that addresses some actual need.

Yeah I have found quite a few tools unnecessary that others have found paramount to their process. The notched straight edge is a good example. I have no need for it. But every once in a while I discover something that I think is silly till I try it. Nut files and a long fretboard sanding beam come to mind. I can't do frets anymore without the sanding beam and the nut files make nice little U-Shaped slots without having to think about it, as opposed to needle files.

Stewmac is creative in making things. They try to design out the technique and rather have the tool do the job and I think that's a good idea for many applications. For some not so much but again there are always some who will find value in it.