Repairing fretboard grooves?

[D4NNY]

Whilst bevelling the end of the frets with a 3 sided file (from stewmac) I didn't realise till I had done one side (as I was filing from the top/face down at approx 60 degrees) that I had left some grooves at various places along the edge of the fretboard which the file must have made.

In hindsight I should have purchased the angled bevel file from stewmac which may have made the task more consistent and avoided me marking the edges of the fretboard.

Worst case I can live with it but is there any way to fill/hide these grooves?

Hopefully it's easy to see in the pic, they are not too deep,but deep enough that they show and won't be hidden by slightly rounding the edge of the fretboard.

Thanks for reading through and I appreciate and tips.

[D4NNY]

Pic below

[tippie53]

I use a pillar file they have a safe edge and don't let grooves but I bet you won't do that again. If you learn it isn't a mistake , it is a learning experience.

[D4NNY]

Running dog, Thanks for the reply, I'll give that a try with a file to see if it improves things, I was thinking of making a slotted block myself to hold a file at an angle but I may just try it as you suggest.


John, yes I try to look at it that way, this is my first build so the learning curve has been pretty steep!

[tippie53]

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... ting&sm=12

here is a link I have on fretting , it may help

[phavriluk]

This is by way of an observation and an implied question for Mr. Hall....would it work out well if the fretboard got its edges sanded in a shooting board until the groove disappeared? The fretboard edges would be at right angles to the bottom, the fretboard edges remain straight and the fret ends would be sanded down level along with the fingerboard. All this by way of the fretboard tolerating losing width to the depth of the grooves.

[tippie53]

I wouldn't use a shooting board I would just use a longer file as Running Dog ( Rick Davis ) suggested. I would angle it slightly and to be honest, I don't think they are a big problem . If you sand at a slight angle the corner will get picked up and the angle say about 25 to 30 Degrees would be fine for the fret ends.
I hope Rick chimes in . I am sure he can add to the discussion.
The file I use on the ends to edge dress is a 6 inch mill 2nd cut smooth. I follow up with the fine pillar file.

[D4NNY]

I used the longer file method as suggested and it worked out quite well, the grooves are still there but not as noticeable.

How do you guys get the beveled end of the frets really smooth to the touch? After using the file I then smoothed them further using 800, 1200, 1500 and then 2000 grit paper. They are now a lot smoother but I still feel a slight roughness/sharpness when running my hand up and down as though I were playing.

Thanks for the replies so far.

John thanks for the link very useful.

[tippie53]

the sharp corner needs to be broken on the very end of the fret. I use the pillar file and I think I show this on the video.
Once I am done and do the fret dressing and leveling. I use the fret protector and my favorite , a piece of cork and use 3500 paper to polish the frets. After that I use 0000 steel wool.

[D4NNY]

Thanks John I will give that a try.