Not too hard to find a way to do it, even a scratch-stock would work fine in many materials. Here's one you can buy and file, or just make one, www.woodcraft.com/products/hock-scratch-stock?variant=43401218228362&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw1920BhA3EiwAJT3lSYTOSiLs_Ev5Ailm6WJ2WpIXsHYbmbbX1oays0DgNPFkk1zG7iQjAxoCFpMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Absolutely love the “simple “ tool that you built that is positively elegant! Looks like a good mill is a prerequisite for your…..Total number of frets done in a career of work= infinite! I follow a guy in another area that has a byline “ you are going to learn something today “ and that is totally represented by every video that you present. Thanks for your generosity
I did repair work for 15 years to support my gutiarmaking/discovery obsession, and adjusted client's frets to very high tolerances. You're right, it works out to be Jillions of frets, and the drudgery of it screamed out for a noble, professional way to accomplish what is a fussy and demanding task, the perfecting of fret tops. You're most welcome!
If you ever get the urge to make bunch of those sanding blocks, those of us without access to a milling machine, might be happy to purchase them. Not that you don’t have enough to do……. Thanks Ken, I always enjoy your posts.
Everyone who does fretwork would like to have a set of these fret - shaped sanding blocks, I think. As you can see from this video, one tool won't address all possible fret height / width dimensions, so maybe two or more sizes would be good to have. The attribute of this little tool that is essential to the job of efficiently and perfectly reshaping and polishing the fret tops is the form of the concave surface that precisely supports the sandpaper to create the correct fret shape. This tool gets right to work removing the unwanted ridges, facets, and marks left by my method of filing along the fret. This sanding block is a perfect example of a "non-discriminate" cutter, in other words, the shape of the work (fret surface) automatically yields to the shape of the tool, resulting in the exact same shape for every fret. In the same way, a flat hand plane is another perfect example of a non-discriminate cutter, as the lumps and bumps of your piece of wood are automatically removed first before the tool has a chance to address the whole surface. A good example of a discriminate tool is a rubber eraser loaded with abrasive particles. This kind of tool tends to cut evenly everywhere it touches. The result is that while the non-discriminate tool removes your little fret filing "mistakes", the discriminate tool polishes them. Here they are in the marketplace from StewMac, www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/tools-by-job/tools-for-fretting/polishing-and-abrasives/fret-erasers/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw37iTBhCWARIsACBt1Izrj5DGJMpJS_7kdPIv0Zzp4Ld33Yth__Q5cJ22-9U7_je8w3VngSEaAg_sEALw_wcB And the inevitable amazon knockoff, www.amazon.com/Baroque-Erasers-Guitar-Polishing-Cleaner/dp/B08THCKYMJ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=fret+eraser&qid=1651412023&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzMTZDMlJJMllTS0IyJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzA1MzEzMk9SVFhXWDJNNUFSOCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTk2MzMzM1ZWVjNDSTNSSTQ0NSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= Mixing abrasive grains into rubber is a very old idea, used in industry for over a century. This is great technology for quite a number of metal finishing processes, but I think it's comically misapplied to fretwork. Some would argue that the concave files and abraders that are sold for reshaping fret tops don't generate the little unwanted facets that my method does, and so don't need the benefit of a non-discriminate tool for sanding, as the frets have already been properly shaped by the non-discriminate steel file or diamond coated "file". This looks great on paper, but I own all of these tools, and they work OK until they become dull and clogged, which is almost right away. Since the early 1970's I have auditioned every style of these I could find, and I have a drawer full of them if anyone's interested. In the '90's I even made my own steel tool blanks and sent them to the best diamond coating outfit I could find, only to discover that they weren't so different than ones I could buy. I don't consider them professional tools, but if you reach for them a couple times a year, you might like them. The dulling/clogging problems inherent with these shaped tools is completely solved by the use of sandpaper for this job. Of course it wears out quickly, but so what? In the video, I think you can hear how much cutting is done with the "coarse" 320 or 500 grit paper, and after a few strokes, it's out of gas for material removal, but you just shift the paper a little, and you're right back to efficient cutting. As I demonstrate, the worn paper leaves a much finer surface than the grit number indicates. Once you're done with 800 grit used in this way, you're a hero. Fretwork is metalworking, and metal has its own demands. Frets are, with a very few exceptions, mostly made of copper, which is "sticky and gummy" to cut compared to most other metals. The obvious outlier is stainless steel, which, believe me, has its own issues. The type of stainless steel chosen for tanged fretwire with little bumps on the tang has to be a ductile (for our purposes this translates mostly as "soft") enough alloy for the wire company to "roll" it from round wire into our precise and complex fretwire cross-section, which means it needs to be pretty much the softest and most ductile alloy available, so that's starting out with a big compromise. We're stuck with a SS alloy that isn't as hard as you might hope for, is quite challenging for us to work with, is really hard on tools, and, even after all these compromises/difficulties, doesn't seem to wear particularly well. Hardly seems worth it, really. IMHO, the Jescar EVO wire, a new alloy of copper, tin, iron, and titanium, is the hands-down most excellent alloy for fretwire. Hats off to the German metallurgists for developing this particular nickle - free alloy for the eyeglass frame industry, and even more praise to Jescar's Jeff Silver, (the German company's USA distributor) for asking the question "Gee, can you guys roll this lovely stuff into fretwire?" Thanks, Jeff!!! This material comes from the manufacturer in a coil, rolled in the perfect size for our use, and the coil diameter makes the wire ready to install on any but the most curved of fretboards, for example the original Fender 7 1/2" radius arc surface used for a short time in the 50's until they knew better. Sadly, the retail suppliers either specify straight wire or straighten the wire themselves so they can ship it to you in a convenient cardboard tube, and then want to sell you a fret rolling gizmo you'll need to put the correct curve back in. Ouch. If you only need a little fretwire, it's probably worth finding some folks to split a pound with, and get it directly from Jescar in its original perfectly coiled condition. (Full Disclosure, this is my personal opinion, and not a commercial, and please know that I don't benefit from any of the things I may recommend in Archtoppery, and will keep it that way.) Some folks don't like this wire because it has a golden cast, and doesn't look "silvery" like the traditional copper/nickle alloy wire we call "Nickle Silver". I say get over it, technology marches on. EVO outwears any traditional fretwire, and it's just better, that's all. I have never used any other wire since I found the EVO in 2005, and never will, unless the Martians devise an even better alloy. After performing precision fretwork on thousands of guitars, I feel that this fussy, demanding job needs all the help it can get! After a few hundred of 'em, your learning curve will flatten out and you'll be looking for the most efficient method to cut down on the time you spend playing with frets while you're daydreaming about winning a PLEK machine in the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. Years ago I sent one of these tools to the fine folks at StewMac for a product evaluation, and although they made some appreciative noises, nothing ever came of it. Don't blame Me. This little tool is easily made on the milling machine, but it's not too hard to make one from ebony scrap by hand with a scratch stock. Shall I demonstrate?
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 my SO will appreciate such a demonstration for removing a reason for me to buy a bench mill. I have a 50s era index full of hardened single flute drills i inherited from my Grandad who spent his career as a machinist doing god knows what highly specialized tool makers did in Los Alamos during the cold war. I occasionally look at them in my shop and think “someday i will have a real use for those.” That’s been happening a lot more since I have started watching your videos.
I wondered why that crowning tool looked so familiar....I made several versions of something almost exactly the same about a year ago...forgot all about it....made out of square acrylic rod....quite hard to hold onto though because the rod is about 5mm square. I cut the groove in a V shape because I was intrigued with the StewMac Z-File. I had it in my mind the last two days to make some with a rounded groove, like yours, so I can smooth the apex of the crown..the little leveled strip that's left from crowning. Then by coincidence (?) I saw your vid Ken and that's when I had the vague memory of making something similar. Too funny. Love your videos and your skills and your generosity of sharing your knowledge!! Cheers!!
Sorry I didn't see you at the artisan Guitar Show a few weeks ago. I made and gave away 30 of these to my fellow builders, thereby inventing "Show Candy".
Wow! It is a great simple tool with the correct profile to do the job nicely! What is the grove profile (perpendicular to fret length)? Is it curved? I can see that you are not tilting the tool while working. I am using a slightly similar tool made of hardwood, but - I can see now - too short, and the grove sides are flat at a little more than 45° angle, maybe 100° at the meeting top point. I have to tilt the tool a little left and right to blend the flats. Your block is longer, thus steadier in hand, and one can do the job without tilt, so I’m willing to accept your wisdom (read: steal) and use your design ;) Your experience with commercially available tools described in the answer to Jeff Moe is very informative and explains frustration with what is sold. And, as always, respect for your will to share. Thank you. Edit: well, I missed that initially; at 1:18 you say “half round grove”, so here it is :)
Ken, that Klingspor paper you are using is 500 grit CAMI grade right? So if I have 3M FEPA paper, I should use P1000 to get the same micron particle size?
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #30 ДВА В ОДНОМ [Один человек]• Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nrXy15orKhY/mqdefault.jpg)
I was thinking about buying a fret crowning file, instead I'll make my own fret-crowning-block following your approach, thank you very much.
Not too hard to find a way to do it, even a scratch-stock would work fine in many materials.
Here's one you can buy and file, or just make one,
www.woodcraft.com/products/hock-scratch-stock?variant=43401218228362&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw1920BhA3EiwAJT3lSYTOSiLs_Ev5Ailm6WJ2WpIXsHYbmbbX1oays0DgNPFkk1zG7iQjAxoCFpMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Absolutely love the “simple “ tool that you built that is positively elegant! Looks like a good mill is a prerequisite for your…..Total number of frets done in a career of work= infinite! I follow a guy in another area that has a byline “ you are going to learn something today “ and that is totally represented by every video that you present. Thanks for your generosity
I did repair work for 15 years to support my gutiarmaking/discovery obsession, and adjusted client's frets to very high tolerances. You're right, it works out to be Jillions of frets, and the drudgery of it screamed out for a noble, professional way to accomplish what is a fussy and demanding task, the perfecting of fret tops.
You're most welcome!
If you ever get the urge to make bunch of those sanding blocks, those of us without access to a milling machine, might be happy to purchase them. Not that you don’t have enough to do……. Thanks Ken, I always enjoy your posts.
Everyone who does fretwork would like to have a set of these fret - shaped sanding blocks, I think.
As you can see from this video, one tool won't address all possible fret height / width dimensions, so maybe two or more sizes would be good to have.
The attribute of this little tool that is essential to the job of efficiently and perfectly reshaping and polishing the fret tops is the form of the concave surface that precisely supports the sandpaper to create the correct fret shape. This tool gets right to work removing the unwanted ridges, facets, and marks left by my method of filing along the fret.
This sanding block is a perfect example of a "non-discriminate" cutter, in other words, the shape of the work (fret surface) automatically yields to the shape of the tool, resulting in the exact same shape for every fret.
In the same way, a flat hand plane is another perfect example of a non-discriminate cutter, as the lumps and bumps of your piece of wood are automatically removed first before the tool has a chance to address the whole surface.
A good example of a discriminate tool is a rubber eraser loaded with abrasive particles. This kind of tool tends to cut evenly everywhere it touches.
The result is that while the non-discriminate tool removes your little fret filing "mistakes", the discriminate tool polishes them.
Here they are in the marketplace from StewMac,
www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/tools-by-job/tools-for-fretting/polishing-and-abrasives/fret-erasers/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw37iTBhCWARIsACBt1Izrj5DGJMpJS_7kdPIv0Zzp4Ld33Yth__Q5cJ22-9U7_je8w3VngSEaAg_sEALw_wcB
And the inevitable amazon knockoff,
www.amazon.com/Baroque-Erasers-Guitar-Polishing-Cleaner/dp/B08THCKYMJ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=fret+eraser&qid=1651412023&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzMTZDMlJJMllTS0IyJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzA1MzEzMk9SVFhXWDJNNUFSOCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTk2MzMzM1ZWVjNDSTNSSTQ0NSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
Mixing abrasive grains into rubber is a very old idea, used in industry for over a century. This is great technology for quite a number of metal finishing processes, but I think it's comically misapplied to fretwork.
Some would argue that the concave files and abraders that are sold for reshaping fret tops don't generate the little unwanted facets that my method does, and so don't need the benefit of a non-discriminate tool for sanding, as the frets have already been properly shaped by the non-discriminate steel file or diamond coated "file".
This looks great on paper, but I own all of these tools, and they work OK until they become dull and clogged, which is almost right away. Since the early 1970's I have auditioned every style of these I could find, and I have a drawer full of them if anyone's interested. In the '90's I even made my own steel tool blanks and sent them to the best diamond coating outfit I could find, only to discover that they weren't so different than ones I could buy. I don't consider them professional tools, but if you reach for them a couple times a year, you might like them.
The dulling/clogging problems inherent with these shaped tools is completely solved by the use of sandpaper for this job. Of course it wears out quickly, but so what? In the video, I think you can hear how much cutting is done with the "coarse" 320 or 500 grit paper, and after a few strokes, it's out of gas for material removal, but you just shift the paper a little, and you're right back to efficient cutting. As I demonstrate, the worn paper leaves a much finer surface than the grit number indicates. Once you're done with 800 grit used in this way, you're a hero.
Fretwork is metalworking, and metal has its own demands. Frets are, with a very few exceptions, mostly made of copper, which is "sticky and gummy" to cut compared to most other metals. The obvious outlier is stainless steel, which, believe me, has its own issues. The type of stainless steel chosen for tanged fretwire with little bumps on the tang has to be a ductile (for our purposes this translates mostly as "soft") enough alloy for the wire company to "roll" it from round wire into our precise and complex fretwire cross-section, which means it needs to be pretty much the softest and most ductile alloy available, so that's starting out with a big compromise. We're stuck with a SS alloy that isn't as hard as you might hope for, is quite challenging for us to work with, is really hard on tools, and, even after all these compromises/difficulties, doesn't seem to wear particularly well. Hardly seems worth it, really.
IMHO, the Jescar EVO wire, a new alloy of copper, tin, iron, and titanium, is the hands-down most excellent alloy for fretwire. Hats off to the German metallurgists for developing this particular nickle - free alloy for the eyeglass frame industry, and even more praise to Jescar's Jeff Silver, (the German company's USA distributor) for asking the question "Gee, can you guys roll this lovely stuff into fretwire?" Thanks, Jeff!!!
This material comes from the manufacturer in a coil, rolled in the perfect size for our use, and the coil diameter makes the wire ready to install on any but the most curved of fretboards, for example the original Fender 7 1/2" radius arc surface used for a short time in the 50's until they knew better.
Sadly, the retail suppliers either specify straight wire or straighten the wire themselves so they can ship it to you in a convenient cardboard tube, and then want to sell you a fret rolling gizmo you'll need to put the correct curve back in. Ouch.
If you only need a little fretwire, it's probably worth finding some folks to split a pound with, and get it directly from Jescar in its original perfectly coiled condition. (Full Disclosure, this is my personal opinion, and not a commercial, and please know that I don't benefit from any of the things I may recommend in Archtoppery, and will keep it that way.)
Some folks don't like this wire because it has a golden cast, and doesn't look "silvery" like the traditional copper/nickle alloy wire we call "Nickle Silver". I say get over it, technology marches on. EVO outwears any traditional fretwire, and it's just better, that's all. I have never used any other wire since I found the EVO in 2005, and never will, unless the Martians devise an even better alloy.
After performing precision fretwork on thousands of guitars, I feel that this fussy, demanding job needs all the help it can get! After a few hundred of 'em, your learning curve will flatten out and you'll be looking for the most efficient method to cut down on the time you spend playing with frets while you're daydreaming about winning a PLEK machine in the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.
Years ago I sent one of these tools to the fine folks at StewMac for a product evaluation, and although they made some appreciative noises, nothing ever came of it. Don't blame Me.
This little tool is easily made on the milling machine, but it's not too hard to make one from ebony scrap by hand with a scratch stock.
Shall I demonstrate?
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Please demonstrate!
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 my SO will appreciate such a demonstration for removing a reason for me to buy a bench mill. I have a 50s era index full of hardened single flute drills i inherited from my Grandad who spent his career as a machinist doing god knows what highly specialized tool makers did in Los Alamos during the cold war. I occasionally look at them in my shop and think “someday i will have a real use for those.”
That’s been happening a lot more since I have started watching your videos.
A resounding YES! Please demonstrate!!
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Yes for a demonstration, thank you.
I wondered why that crowning tool looked so familiar....I made several versions of something almost exactly the same about a year ago...forgot all about it....made out of square acrylic rod....quite hard to hold onto though because the rod is about 5mm square. I cut the groove in a V shape because I was intrigued with the StewMac Z-File. I had it in my mind the last two days to make some with a rounded groove, like yours, so I can smooth the apex of the crown..the little leveled strip that's left from crowning. Then by coincidence (?) I saw your vid Ken and that's when I had the vague memory of making something similar. Too funny. Love your videos and your skills and your generosity of sharing your knowledge!! Cheers!!
Glad it's helping. There are lots of ways to do a good job, I'm always looking for the simplest one.
That sanding block is great!
Sorry I didn't see you at the artisan Guitar Show a few weeks ago. I made and gave away 30 of these to my fellow builders, thereby inventing "Show Candy".
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I wasn't there, but hopefully one day! You also invented Video Candy with this series :)
Uno dei migliori liutai al mondo bravissimo👍
Grazie, che bello!
You are great!!!!👍
Wow, thanks! I'll tell my wife!
Wow! It is a great simple tool with the correct profile to do the job nicely! What is the grove profile (perpendicular to fret length)? Is it curved? I can see that you are not tilting the tool while working.
I am using a slightly similar tool made of hardwood, but - I can see now - too short, and the grove sides are flat at a little more than 45° angle, maybe 100° at the meeting top point. I have to tilt the tool a little left and right to blend the flats. Your block is longer, thus steadier in hand, and one can do the job without tilt, so I’m willing to accept your wisdom (read: steal) and use your design ;)
Your experience with commercially available tools described in the answer to Jeff Moe is very informative and explains frustration with what is sold.
And, as always, respect for your will to share. Thank you.
Edit: well, I missed that initially; at 1:18 you say “half round grove”, so here it is :)
You can't steal a gift.
Ken, that Klingspor paper you are using is 500 grit CAMI grade right? So if I have 3M FEPA paper, I should use P1000 to get the same micron particle size?
Here's a conversion table for that, looks like that's just right,
www.thesandpaperman.com.au/abrasive-conversion-chart.html
would this work equally well on stainless steel frets?
Sure does, Have a close look at my reply to Jeff Moe from a few days ago.