Jim Watts wrote:
I bevel my fret edges after finishing and let the file just kiss the top edge of the fingerboard. This blends the finish into the fingerboard nicely and the final buffing finishes it off. Hope that helps.
Same here and of course fretting comes after the guitar has been finished so does leveling and shaping the board.
I learned this from Dave Collins and that is to make the file pictured below. It started life as an OO file, nice and flat, was shortened to the size pictured and the edges were safed. I also spent some time intentionally dulling it until it was nicely broken in.
When you have it just right the file will skate on finish and still cleanly cut the fret ends. Holding it at an angle this thing makes quick work of proud fret ends (new or dry guitar) and very nicely imparts a slight bevel to the edge of the finish helping to avoid any chipping in the future.
It's not intended to be used for the radical bevel that we see on f*ctory instruments as a cheap, quick way to do the ends not requiring any skilled labor. The radical bevels also eliminate valuable fret top real estate that better players often desire or wish that they had.
And yes I made mine with a nice piece of very old BRW.
