Quick & Simple Edge File For Fret Dressing
Fret dressing. You either love it or you hate it, but with the right tools you can fly through it in no time flat.
While some people like to have an all-purpose file for initial fret dressing I prefer to have a couple of single purpose ones – one for dressing the edges of the frets at 90 degrees and the other for beveling. I just find it easier, personally, to use two separate tools rather than one. The tools are slightly lighter than a combined one and I find they’re more comfortable in the hand and easier to use. Sure, you also have to use two separate files instead of one, but files are pretty cheap and they last twice as long than if you used the one file in your dressing tool.
The 90 degree fret file is easy enough to make – as are most of the tools we’ll feature here, actually. Basically you just need to fix a file at right angles to a block of wood. To do this I use a simple back “fence” so that the file will stay in line, then I just screw another smaller piece of wood to the fence which bears down on the surface of the file (see pic), clamping it down tightly. You don’t really need a lot of pressure but you do need to make sure that the file doesn’t move. If you find that it does move then all you need to do is screw another one, or perhaps two more, bits of wood to the fence.
I should add that it’s probably safer if you cut the tang of your file off and smooth everything over with an angle grinder. I haven’t done that with the file used in these pictures but I should. Having said that though I’ve not had an accident involving file tangs ever. Still, there’s always a first time!
It’s also important to make sure that you position the back fence so that the edge of the file overhangs the edge of your wood block – but not too much as it may mar the surface of the body or the the headstock as you dress your frets. About a 3/16″ to 1/4″ overhang is probably enough.
Similarly the bevel dressing tool is made in much the same way, with the exception being that you need to cut and plane one edge at around 35 degrees to get your angle. You can do this by hand or, if you’re fortunate enough to have one, on a saw bench with a tilting arbor. Once you’ve done that you make your back fence and hold-down pieces in the same manner.
LEFT: Dual purpose fret dressing tool made by Brian Calvert of the ever fabulous “Project Guitar” website, which you can find in our featured links section. This one has been made by cutting the block to shape, then cutting a groove in middle, where the two surfaces meet, and hammering a file into the slot.
To finish off you can glue some soft leather or felt cloth to the surface of your fret dressing tools where the tool rides across the top of the frets. I personally don’t bother though as any “wear” or scratching of the frets is virtually non existent. Not enough for me to worry about anyway. What I do use though is a piece of softer wood – usually mahogany – glued to the underside of the wood block.
So there you have it! A fret dressing tool – or tools – for a few dollars or so!
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