Fret Dressing

[ken cierp]

This is a process which closely follows Teeter's method -- at one time Don was a technical consultant at the Martin factory

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/fretdressing.html

[Tim Benware]

That's so close to the method I use the differences aren't even worth mentioning. I do repair work as well as build. People love my fret work. My handle is a piece of tongue and groove oak flooring I made before I found the design Ken uses (from Teeter's book?) The tongue portion worked great and I've had it so long it's like an old friend now.

[Dave Bagwill]

Are you basically trying to restore the fret to the shape it had before it was installed? I have a stewmac fret file and it does not crown the fret to its pristine shape. The Teeter method and tool, which I use, does a bit better job, but if I have a real flat spot on a fret I've leveled, it's difficult to get it back to that original shape.
Any hints? Other than don't level so hard?

[dave d]

I'm just at the fret dressing stage of my first build too, so this topic is very timely. I made a wooden tool as Ken suggests and it works well for turning the flat spot created by the preceding leveling step into a curved top. I wonder though if the top of the fret is okay to be mushroom shaped or if the sides of the fret should be steeper.

[Tim Benware]

I use a Gurian crowning file ( http://www.pilgrimsprojects.biz/t29.html ) after I've leveled, then 320, 400 and 600 grit (using the handle) to take out the scratches and I finish it off with blue then pink 3M Flexible Polishing Papers (from stewmac).

[Dave Bagwill]

Tim, do the files re-crown the frets to their original shape, or is a little mushrooming acceptable?

[ken cierp]

This is what I use for major fret shaping/crowning I think this guy has a good price as well

http://www.pilgrimsprojects.biz/t29.html