Official Luthiers Forum!

Moving on in an effort to wrap this hopefully useful to someone thread up is the subject of fret ends as mentioned.

This little gem of a file is highly recommended and we use them likely daily as well:



The file seems perfect for the intended task and has some not all that apparent features to the design that really helps get the job done precisely, cleanly, and quickly. The file does not care what the fret wire is either, stainless, evo, ns it just keeps on working like the day I bought it.

The file is safed on two sides permitting registering it on the fret board itself. One of the safed sides is different from the other which is something that I never noticed until I had one in my hand. One of the safe sides is flush to the board and the other is gently curved so as to help avoid the possibility of marring the fret board in the wrong hands.

The completely flat side won't mar the board either in the right hands that know where and how to apply the requisite amount of pressure while using the tool.

As far as the file part goes it cuts well, I've never experienced any clogging or debris build up, and after using mine on likely tens of thousands of frets it seems as sharp as the day I first took it out of the package. As such I am keen to always have a spare in case they stop offering these very fine little files.

And... although it seems completely asinine to even address the notion of making one's own instead of purchasing this Stew-Mac offering sure - go at it and while you are doing so attempt to keep track of your actual and true costs including your time. My guess and based on what we get for my time at the shop that the $13.50ish that this little gem costs is one of the best bargains in the business.