Fret polishing advice

mynameistrouble

I recently took the plunge and did my second ever fret level and crowning on my Jackson. It has turned out very well and the playability is much improved, but I’m less impressed by my polishing.

 I don’t know if it’s just paranoia, but i feel like the frets still feel a little’gritty’, and they certainly don’t have that mirror shine the kids are all talking about. 

I’m happy to give it another go, but just concerned about going crazy with sandpaper and undoing the ‘level’ that I’ve achieved by taking off more height  in an uneven fashion.

So far I’ve been very conservative with the polishing, lightly running 240 up to 1000 grit lengthwise along the fretboard rather than doing each fret individually. I know i now need to do it fret by fret, but wanted to know what grit to start with, and how long I should be spending on each fret - that’s not from a ‘can’t be bothered, how quickly can i move on to   next one’ angle, but I don’t want to wear the frets down to nothing...

I also have medium, fine and super fine grade fret rubbers from crimson and not quite sure which stage in the grits tgey fit.

Any advice gratefully received!

vanlooy1

Some useful stuff in here

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/18377/finished-wezv-tele-build

mynameistrouble

vanlooy1 said:

Some useful stuff in here

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/18377/finished-wezv-tele-build

That is indeed very helpful, thanks!

Slash'N'burn

I did the same recently, got a mirror finish but spent far too much time on the sandpaper stages , what I should of done is worked on one fret initially and worked out the minimum strokes with each grade required to progress it enough to get the best end result.

I was using I think 800 through to 2500 grit which was tedious , then micromesh pads 8000 and 12000.

a couple of rubs with the 8000 quickly changed the frets from dull grey to a mirror finish. 

After that I put a bit of Gibson polish on them and buffed with a cloth, which made them very slippery to the touch.

Switch625

I did some fret polishing over the weekend on a guitar I picked up recently. Just used some brasso wadding and then some fine steel wool.

Before:

After:

LastMantra

I was thinking that when masking off it might be an idea to use double sided tape. Might catch some of the crud?

Just a thought. Probably silly. 

longjaw

I use a drop of Brasso on a cloth or 0000 wire wool - works fine for me.

ICBM

I use 600 grit, 1000, Fine then Brasso or T-Cut. *Always* across the neck, you should never polish frets up and down the neck, that leaves fine scratches parallel to the strings which they catch in, which is why the frets feel gritty. The purpose of each stage is simply to remove the marks from the last (starting from the file strokes) - you shouldn't be removing any significant amount of metal, certainly not enough to undo the levelling and crowning.

Always mask the board off with tape, and be careful to check for holes worn in it as you go or you'll get scuffed spots on the board.

WezV

ICBM said:

I use 600 grit, 1000, Fine then Brasso or T-Cut. *Always* across the neck, you should never polish frets up and down the neck, that leaves fine scratches parallel to the strings which they catch in, which is why the frets feel gritty. The purpose of each stage is simply to remove the marks from the last (starting from the file strokes) - you shouldn't be removing any significant amount of metal, certainly not enough to undo the levelling and crowning.

Always mask the board off with tape, and be careful to check for holes worn in it as you go or you'll get scuffed spots on the board.

I always work up and down the neck, but polish to the point there are not any fine scratches left.

LooseMoose

Do yourself a favour:
- Dremel
- Polishing wheel (felt)
- Autofinesse ‘One Stop’ polish compound 
- Goggles

Thank me later - the finish is out of this world!

Slash'N'burn

LooseMoose said:

Do yourself a favour:
- Dremel
- Polishing wheel (felt)
- Autofinesse ‘One Stop’ polish compound 
- Goggles

Thank me later - the finish is out of this world!

Power tools can create heat which is not good for a wooden fretboard, frets can loosen.

WezV

Slash'N'burn said:

LooseMoose said:

Do yourself a favour:
- Dremel
- Polishing wheel (felt)
- Autofinesse ‘One Stop’ polish compound 
- Goggles

Thank me later - the finish is out of this world!

Power tools can create heat which is not good for a wooden fretboard, frets can loosen.

this is where the devils in the details.

Perfectly possible to use a dremel to buff frets , also perfectly possible  to totally fluff it up and create more problems. for yourself.  A heavy hand or stiffer polishing wheel can leave divots in the frets.  The amount of compound  and speed of Dremel is also important.  Too much compound can screw up the board, too little will lead to heat issues

Power tools can be very useful things, but they always add an increase in risk. Always worth trying a tool or method on a spare instrument first before you take it to something with real value

LooseMoose

Slash'N'burn said:

LooseMoose said:

Do yourself a favour:
- Dremel
- Polishing wheel (felt)
- Autofinesse ‘One Stop’ polish compound 
- Goggles

Thank me later - the finish is out of this world!

Power tools can create heat which is not good for a wooden fretboard, frets can loosen.

And if you generate significant heat, you're doing it wrong