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I'm about to order tools for fretting my first build. I need a tool or two and would like to order what I will need at once thinking I could save a little money vs placing several small orders.

What tools would you recommend for fretting? At a minimum, I will need a tool for dressing the frets and a file for crowning the frets. I was thinking about using this diamond file for crowning, thoughts?


Any ideas on building a fret beveling block for the edges of the frets? If I could make a good one it would save $60 vs buying this one:


Any suggestions for a small file for rounding the ends of the frets without scratching the fretboard?

Finally, how about files for cutting the nut and saddle slots? Don't want to waste money but don't want to buy a junk tool either. Does it require 6 different files or can you use 3 sizes or what?

Thanks for your input.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Hi Darryl,

This is really an opened ended question, your going to get 10 different answers from 10 different guys. Are you buying a fretboard that is radiused and slotted already? If not you will tooling to: get the board to thickness, radius the board, cut the slots, install the frets, file the edges and drill for the position dots. So let's see, that's at least: a planer and sanding stuff, a radius block, a miter box, fret saw and scale template, some sort of cutter for the frets, a fret press with cawls or a fret hammer, fret edge file (make your own or commercial) and several different size brat point bids for different size position dots.

Unless your planning on getting into the repair end of things, I don't think you'll need a fret leveling device or expensive fret crowning file. On a new build, the fret board is flat, frets ought to be flat when your done (mine are) and they're new, and unless you beat the ham out of them installing, they ought to be nicely shaped when your done (mine are).

I know what your going through. I had that dad gum SM catalog in front of me back in 1995 and must have had a list that had one of everything on it. After I looked at the cost, I re-evaluated what I really had to have. Bought my first necks already to thickness, radiused and slotted. That meant I just needed a hammer. Gee, I have a brass hammer in the tool box and a pair of side cutters and a file. WoW! I didn't need to buy anything... but I did anyway, we can't help it. Hope this helped.

Dave

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God, Family, Carreer

i defintly recommend good fret files. The one you show would be well suitable. The bevel can be done with a large mill file by hand. I use to uses a large 12" mill file that i placed in a vice and wacked with a hammer to break the tang end off and a portion of the other side. I then rounded over the ends so they wouldn't snag the frets as I run them over the ends from one end of the fingerboard to the other. I then later made my own bevel block with a a piece of oak i had laying around. I'm sorry i don't have a camera to take photos of it but you can search google and youl find others who did the same thing. Beats spending $60.00. It probably cost me $10 in all to make it.

I like this http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Speci ... Files.html fret file the best, i have not tried the 3-in-1 file you showed, but i never really liked the looks of it.

The fret end beveler is easy to make or live without, i have always just done that part freehand, but recently made one using a tablesaw, a block of random wood and an old file in about 2 1/2 minutes, i used it twice and went back to doing it freehand.

I don't round the ends of the frets, they get softened nicely when the fret sanding and polishing gets done and i like em fairly faceted looking, if you do any file with one safe edge would work just fine.

For nut slots you should probably just suck it up and buy a nice set like the stewmac ones, i have heard of people using welding tip cleaners, but if you are going to do this more than a couple of times it is probably worth it to get nice files. The files stewmac sells have two sizes per file, so you can probably get away with three if they are close enough to the string gauges you use.

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

For the record, my fret board is pre-radiused and pre-slotted. The tools I'm seeking advise on are for instaling, trimming, beveling, and finishing the frets on a new build where it's ready to play.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......