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lumberjim · 01-27-2019, 09:38 AM

Sand bags came and I finished the frets.

Finished installing them that is. I need to dress the fret ends then level and shape them. I just got this tape caddie and 3 rolls of stew Mac orange tape in 3 sizes. The blue is just regular painting tape. So I have 1/4" - 1" for taping the fret board between the frets. About 1/4 of the way through taping, I remembered a trick I saw. You run a strip of tape along the length of the neck so that the protective tape lies over it on the end. This aids in removal afterwards.

You can see about 6 frets up the tape ends are above the horizontal piece.

All taped up:

This is a fret dressing file

You can see that the edges are smooth if you look close

I'm not sure I did things in the right order here. What I'm doing is rounding over the ends of each fret so they aren't sharp on the ends where your fingers wrap around. Next time I think I'll go at the edges with a flat file to bring them flush with the edge of the neck before taping. It felt smooth when I was done but then when the tape came off, it's still a bit scratchy. I'm going to have to revisit that. Do it right, or do it twice.

01-27-2019, 09:38 AM	#221
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	Sand bags came and I finished the frets. Finished installing them that is. I need to dress the fret ends then level and shape them. I just got this tape caddie and 3 rolls of stew Mac orange tape in 3 sizes. The blue is just regular painting tape. So I have 1/4" - 1" for taping the fret board between the frets. About 1/4 of the way through taping, I remembered a trick I saw. You run a strip of tape along the length of the neck so that the protective tape lies over it on the end. This aids in removal afterwards. You can see about 6 frets up the tape ends are above the horizontal piece. All taped up: This is a fret dressing file You can see that the edges are smooth if you look close I'm not sure I did things in the right order here. What I'm doing is rounding over the ends of each fret so they aren't sharp on the ends where your fingers wrap around. Next time I think I'll go at the edges with a flat file to bring them flush with the edge of the neck before taping. It felt smooth when I was done but then when the tape came off, it's still a bit scratchy. I'm going to have to revisit that. Do it right, or do it twice. __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan Last edited by lumberjim; 01-27-2019 at 09:43 AM.