Will this come out during fret leveling?

[dinkyguitar]

So my hopes of building a perfect guitar...prefect being everything went perfect, have hit an obstacle...I was filing my fret ends getting them even with the fretboard when I accidently skated my file across 4 frets ...After a name calling session followed by cursing at myself ...I took a look and it seemed like the grooves could come out during my fret leveling.

My SS fret are Jescar is .110" wide, .057" tall. My grooves look like .002-.003" deep...
Any thoughts on how to handle this?

dinkyguitar

[sully]

pic? Either way, you can probably level them out.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Eh, it woulda been nice to not have to take .003" off you didn't need to, but if you needed to, now you have to.

That shallow should come out and leave you PLENTY of fret left, heck, I'd guess you probably would have had to take that much off anyway.

If it really bugs you, you could replace just those frets, but I don't think that's a lot of material to take off at all.

[sully]

+1. As big as those frets are, you'll be fine.
FWIW, I like to level SS with either radius blocks or the stewmac metal bar leveler and sandpaper. No file wear.

[1337storm]

If I'm doing my coversions correct here (being european), 0,003"=0,0762mm and in my opinion you will take off at least that or more during any fret levelling, even without scratches from the file.

[dinkyguitar]

Sorry for no pics...

Last night I finally did my fret level...and those scratches came out...The most material I took off a fret is .004", some were less but that wasn't any of the frets that got scratched.

This is my second fret and each time I do a fret level I can see I'm taking more material off some frets than others. On my first refret, I leveled the fretboard. On the second one I left the fretboard alone since it was a new neck. But on both fret jobs, I use my arbor press to get the frets in, and leave it pressed for 1/2 hour or so. I'm wondering if I'm pressing them in alittle too much.

One things for sure, the frets are seated across the board...There are no gaps or spaces under any fret....

Tonight I'm crowning, touching up the fret ends, and finally polishing them...

One last note...my body came in from KnE Guitars. It's "The Warren" after Warren DeMartini.. I'll be sanding that and applying Tru-Oil...that should be fun...

dinkyguitar

[DonP]

You could always pull the frets and put in new ones, but I forgot, you glued them in.

[sully]

I'd say as a rule of thumb that you should level the fretboard with each refret. Obviously, check for straightness across the board, and look for humps and dips, and while a new neck may not need anything, you at least want to check for it.

As fas as leaving them pressed in for 30 minutes goes, you probably don't need to do that. If you're using something like hide glue, you can press the frets in, then clamp them down with a radius block over night, but it's not necessary. If the fret radius matches the board and the tang is the correct size for the fret slot, you're probably not going to have much (if any) movement after the fret is pressed in. It's also possible to press them in too far.

Sully

[kramer]

Pics?

[sully]

You could always pull the frets and put in new ones, but I forgot, you glued them in.

Very easy to pull glued frets!

[ulijdavid]

.

This is my second fret and each time I do a fret level I can see I'm taking more material off some frets than others. On my first refret, I leveled the fretboard. On the second one I left the fretboard alone since it was a new neck. But on both fret jobs, I use my arbor press to get the frets in, and leave it pressed for 1/2 hour or so. I'm wondering if I'm pressing them in alittle too much.

One things for sure, the frets are seated across the board...There are no gaps or spaces under any fret...

Even with the fretboard perfectly leveled before installing the frets, your frets will not remain level. Next time you do a fret job, check out out the straightness for the fretboard before installing the frets. You can get it dead nuts straight. Then check it after you install the frets. The fretboard should back bow on you. Remember the slot is smaller than the fret tang. The fret tang causes the fretboard to open the slot. Over 20 something frets, the fretboard has to back bow to allow room for the frets. The truss rod can help to straighten the fretboard back out, but don't expect consistency over the entire board. This is where your levelling is critical. If you have leveled the fretboard and there are no visible spaces between the fretboard and frets, you did everything correct.
Now, let's see some pics!!!

[dinkyguitar]

So I think I'm done....but still might have some clean up work...I used a dremel to polish the frets and the polishing compound got under the masking tape a little. It's hard to clean it up since the fret board is raw and it stains very easy..

I'm pretty satisfied with the results but won't know how good of a job I did till I actually play it..You can see the pics that after I used steel wool the fret board came out looking more natural instead of that yellowish tint it had. I'm hoping that after putting tru-oil on the neck and fret board it will retain that natural color...

Now for the pics...









I have to say, the only difference I noticed fretting with stainless steel is that you need to use 2 hands when cutting it and polishing out scratches takes a little longer. The leveling and crowning takes the same amount of time.

I know next time I'll probably level the fret board (even though it will be new a new Charvel neck), add fallaway before pressing the frets, use less force pressing the frets and once I press the frets in move on to the next fret instead of leaving it press for a 1/2 hour.

Not sure what kind og logo I'm doing to use on the headstock. Just Charvel? Charvel MIJ? Charvel USA? or Jackson logo...

Next is tru-oil on the neck...and prepping my K n E "The Warren" body...

dinkyguitar

[sully]

Cool, looks like you did a good job. Quick suggestion though is to be careful with tru-oil on the fretboard; if you put too much on, it will get gunky, and that residue will hang out near the frets and be difficult to get out.

[dinkyguitar]

Thanks Sully....Any suggestions on what to use that might be better for the fretboard as well as the neck?

I'm trying to keep the natural color and a satin feel...The feel as raw wood..

PS: Could you use lemon oil???? Instead of tru-oil?

dinkyguitar

[sully]

Tru Oil has Boiled Linseed Oil in it, so if you use both, you'll get a fine result. You can also use Boiled Linseed Oil on the entire neck. That's what I used to do.