Unbound Fretboard Ugliness

[stevemac00]

unbound.jpg

I didn't realize how unfinished this would look. The depth of the kerfs are much deeper than the fret wire.

Do the veterans have suggestions on how to make an unbound board look finished? I suppose I could fill with black CA.

[B. Howard]

Yep, fret 13 is not seated at the end and fret 11 looks like it may need a love tap as well. I use burn in sticks to fill those little gaps both on new guitars and re-frets.

[darren]

Rick, is a 'burn-in' lacquer stick what you use? I've done the ca drops but do have concerns about the frets coming out in the future.

Steve,
This is what I've done, though I have some lacquer sticks I'd like to try for this:

After those frets are seated firmly, I'd clamp the FB on its side, then pack a little sanding dust as Rick suggests. I put a drop of CA at each fret, and then sand along the length of the FB. Use a hard block behind your sandpaper, and rotate it frequently as the CA will build up in the paper. You may have to do this 2 or 3 times before every slot disappears.

[stevemac00]

I have some of these I've used before and will try although I don't think they're lacquer or shellac - some type of resin.

Another question. It seems everything I do creates more questions! I had a few scratches on some frets from the hammer (even though it's a plastic head"). I had purchased some crowning files (expensive Japanese from Philadelphia Luthier http://www.philadelphialuthiertools.com.

But when I tried to file out the scratches it made it worse. See close up photo.

Fret_IMG_4710.jpg

The fret on the right is from the hammer and the one in the center is after I filed it. Rookie mistake but now how do I get that glossy smooth finish back?

[tippie53]

I use a cobblers chasing hammer. I also will use fish glue or tite bond when fretting.



filling can be done a number of ways. I use the glue and dust routine or CA. Many ways to do this , no one perfect or wrong way. Find what works for you.

[B. Howard]

Not sure which files you bought, but here's a quick rundown of a typical fretting process. After frets are installed I use a flat aluminum beam and some stick on sand paper (600grit) to make the frets perfectly level with eachother. I then use a crowning file like these
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Speci ... _File.html
to restore the crown to the fret. Finally I polish all the frets to a nice shine. In the photo you are filing down that single fret to remove scratches, but you are also making that fret lower that the other frets. This will cause a buzz.

[Tom West]

stevemac00: I got tired of trying to get a good look on the fret ends. So I started to bind all boards. Just use the cut offs when you cut board to shape. I prefer not to use purfling and its hard to tell that the board is bound but it looks so much neater. You have to undercut the tangs on the frets of course. As to the marks on the frets. You started out right with the plastic faced hammer. After that I clamp each fret one at a time with a caul and run thin CA glue along the lenght.Clean up with acetone and light scraping wit a single edge razor blade. If your board was dead flat you should have very little leveling to do. Then reshape frets with a fret file,just barely removing leveling marks. Make an abrasive holder about 2"x4"x3/16" or so and radius one of the long edges to fit the frets. Start with about 400 grit paper wraped on stick and polish. Work your way up through the grits and get those babies as shiny as you want.
Tom