Fret leveling

[Quickstep192]

I’m interested to hear about people’s favorite fret leveling tools.

What’s your favorite device for this drudgerous task?

[mirwa]

Levelling frets - Flat Steel bar with sandpaper, radius caul with sandpaper.
Crowning frets - hardware store mini file kit, triangular one for crowning, flat base rectangular for fret ends

I do around 3 fret levl and recrowns every day

Steve

[Quickstep192]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Levelling frets - Flat Steel bar with sandpaper, radius caul with sandpaper.
Crowning frets - hardware store mini file kit, triangular one for crowning, flat base rectangular for fret ends

I do around 3 fret levl and recrowns every day

Steve

Steve, what grit paper do you use and how do you hold it to the steel bar?

[redir]

I like the steel bar too. I got one maybe 5 years ago from Stewmac and it improved the quality of my fretwork immensely. I use 3m 80 grit self stick sandpaper. Level the fretboard with the beam, fret the guitar, then level the frets with the beam and crown and polish. It does an amazing job.

For refrets where I don't level the fretboard sometimes the beam is not the right choice and I will just use a short flat file.

[John Arnold]

I use a large mill file that has a block of wood epoxied to it. I chose a file that was as straight as possible.....'flat' files are not necessarily flat after the heat treatment. I sawed off the tang, since it was not needed. The pine block is humped in the center and rounded on the edges to make it the most comfortable handle to hold.

[Bax Burgess]

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tool..._Levelers.html

I use the 325 grit, and thereafter 400 and 600 grit sandpaper.

[Quickstep192]

Does anyone use this little gem from StewMac?

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tool...iABEgKeDvD_BwE

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Quickstep192

Does anyone use this little gem from StewMac?

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tool...iABEgKeDvD_BwE

It’s a file attached to wood block, just what John described. I used to use a file: it works. I don’t anymore.

I’ve used various things over the years. My favourite for fretboard dressing is an aluminum level with 80 sandpaper glued to it. For fret levelling, I use one or more diamond or oil stones. Levelling takes about 5 minutes. Crowning and end dressing longer.

[packocrayons]

Anyone use diamond "stones"? I have some 8" long ones that are absolutely dead flat, and seem like they would make good leveling tools

[Bruce Sexauer]

I have been using the same set of DMT diamond "stones" for 25 years. The same one I use to sharpen my edge tools. It looks like they are going to last my whole life. One of the unexpected advantages is that they can be used in line with the frets as easily as along the length of the finger board like most abraders, and this leaves scratches that cannot be felt in the strings. These cut so well it is just a few seconds with each grit, assuming the frets are well installed. The fine stone is something like 2000 grit, which really needs no improvement. I crown with StewMac's 150 and 300 grit diamond crowning "files".

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by Quickstep192

Steve, what grit paper do you use and how do you hold it to the steel bar?

220grit, spray adhesive or sandpaper with adhesive already on the back.

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by Quickstep192

Does anyone use this little gem from StewMac?

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tool...iABEgKeDvD_BwE

I have purchased nearly every quality commercial hand tool that exists in lutherie, if a possibilty exists it can make my work faster i will invest, clearly we all see some people peddling crappy tools, i do not buy them.

Long story short, yes i have those files, no i dont use them for fret levelling, they are just too savage IMO,they are good for knocking fret ends down fast to the board when doing a refret

Steve

[Frank Ford]

#5 Stanley jack plane body. I just fold the paper and hold it on there - it has served me well for every fret job for near half a century:





Same tool for leveling board and for leveling frets, using appropriate grit and paper for the job at hand.

(I never use self-sticky sandpaper for anything.)

[Howard Klepper]

10" smooth cut mill file with the tang removed for leveling. I used to crown with a cantsaw file (ground & polished safe on the oblique corner), but switched to a diamond crowning file. Most recently doing fret ends with a pillar file that has one narrow edge ground & polished 15º off from square to the file face.

It's getting harder to find mill files that are really flat. My old one was a Nicholson from the 70's. Now they have offshored production and quality is down in various little ways. Probably the best now is Grobet (or just about any Swiss maker. The Swiss haven't yet figured out how to make crappy tools and sell them for cheap); Bahco is pretty decent.

[packocrayons]

Originally Posted by Frank Ford

#5 Stanley jack plane body. I just fold the paper and hold it on there - it has served me well for every fret job for near half a century:





Same tool for leveling board and for leveling frets, using appropriate grit and paper for the job at hand.

(I never use self-sticky sandpaper for anything.)

Just make a carbide blade, and you don't need sandpaper. Nickel shavings!