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This build I plan on fretting the neck after fitting it to the body so I can level the FB on the guitar before fretting.
As the neck and body are finished separately before assembly, wondering how people go about masking the neck for pore filling and finishing, given that the fret slots are open at the ends? I don't want to fill the fret slot end with epoxy and finish.
I believe I read about some people that do things a similar way, so how do you go about it?
Also. how do you fill the ends of the frets lots after fretting?

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I have not actually done a fret job after assembly but I have given it some thought after reading the recommendations from Hesh and others. I am concerned with the same issues as you.

My thoughts are to do it one of two ways.
1. After the neck is fitted properly to the body, but no pore fill or finish, do the fret job. Then take it apart and mask the fingerboard section and whatever else you want on the neck and finish.
2. Fill and finish the neck and body, assemble the guitar, clear the fret channels with a saw and install and level the frets. Then seal under the frets with CA, then do a final sand and buff.
My guess is I'd have to try both ways before I knew which one I like.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I usually do (1), but (2) also works for me.

One option is to do a "disguised" bound fingerboard. Cut off enough useful wood from the sides of the fingerboard to make two pieces of binding; then slot the fingerboard; then taper as if it will be a bound fingerboard. Then glue on the pieces of binding you made from the cutoff; scrape or plane them level with the fingerboard; and boom, you have a bound fingerboard that doesn't look like a bound fingerboard. No problem with finish in the exposed slots, because there are no exposed slots. Fret later on, as you planned to, but fret for a bound fingerboard. No problem with filing the ends and screwing up the finish.

Another idea is to jam the slots with that Teflon dam material from Stewmac prior to finishing. Or just use plastic lid material. I don't know if that is a good idea, but if I were going to build in that sequence, and I didn't want to do a disguised bound fingerboard, I might try that.

That is a bound fretboard. And it is a bit late this time.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

As others have mentioned, the usual practice here is to bind the fretboard with off-cut material and treat fretting like a bound fretboard With that option off the table, the first 3/32" of each fret slot may be filled with a matching piece of wood veneer (grain running in alignment with fret slot) and glued into place.

Commercial veneers are about 0.024" thick, so if you have some suitable stock, just cut a couple strips of one side of fret slot depth + 1/64"...position, fit to the slot, and dab with thin CA to lock things in place (do not flood the slot...just a bit of glue is more than enough). Lightly sand the excess flush and the fret slots will be closed. Even if you do not have veneer that is suitable, carefully rip blanks from excess fretboard material and use double-stick tape and a carrier board to dimension with the thickness sander.

Fretting will require that you remove the tang of the fret as with a bound board, but with tools from Stewart MacDonald or Jescar (we love our Summit tang trimmer), this goes quickly.

One trick with this process of fretting after finishing and assembly is to mask the fretboard for finishing about 3/32" in from the edge, finish, then pull the tape towards the center to get a safe release. The finish will turn the corner of the fretboard, leaving the fragile, easily chipped edge on the fretboard surface. Use a fret end bevel jig (file in block, held at 35 degrees) to just kiss the lacquered edge (no more than .010" wide bevel - less is better) sufficient to cut through the finish to the wood leaves a smooth, finished edge.

The finish left on the top of the board may now be safely removed with a leveling beam and radius block without fear of separation or fracture. Because of the very fine bevel on the edge of the board, even a slightly over-driven fret will not contact the finish, so further post-finishing cleanup is eliminated.

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

Thanks Woodie, makes sense, next FB for this treatment gets bound.
I have a SM fret tang nipper, no worries, but I lust a bit after the Summit one.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I splurged and got the Summit one a couple years back and really like it. If you do get one just make sure the bolt holding the two halves of the pliers is snug. For some reason when I got mine it was a little loose and rolled some of the tang over as it cut. Once I noticed it wiggled and tightened it up it has been working great for stainless wire.

We build only classic and flamenco so no bound fingerboards. When we fret we always put a dot of black epoxy (5 minute) at the fret ends to fill the void at the bottom of the fret. It sands off easily the next day and results in a nice appearance when finishing. We used to mask the neck when pore filling but found it easier to just use ZPOXY over the neck and body all at once (never on the top). ZPOXY is so forgiving that it's a joy to use and I like the slight amber glow it adds.

If you had the Summit tool, this thread probably wouldn't exist.

? - Re: Masking neck pore fill/finishing when fretting with neck (on).
I have already made guitars with, and refretted several bound FBs with the SM one, which works well enough.
I just can't justify the expense of the Summit at the moment, which didn't even exist when I bought the SM.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Or, and I understand that this is not the way you want to go at least this time, complete the instrument any way you wish and fret once it's finished. Faux bound board, undercut fret tangs if the look bothers you.

You knew I was going to say that....

PS: No one ever passed on a D-18 or 28 because the fret tang ends showed.

Mr. Breakstone makes an excellent point - you might consider dealing with the situation as though it is a repair and you've been asked to refret the instrument. While the finish may require some minor sanding and buffing, and perhaps a drop fill or two, it is no different than what a repair shop sees on a routine basis. If for no other reason than to prepare for the day when one of your customers insists on a refret from their guitar's creator, it might be worth the doing.

Good luck with your project!

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

Thank Woodie, et al, the only difference to a re-fret is they usually come in with a finish on them!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Following that line of thought and fleshing it out a bit:

Most factory guitars are fretted before they are finished. So, a refret normally involves removing the thing that currently is inside the fret slot (the old fret), and which is underneath the finish, and then moving on from there.

I circle back to the idea of jamming something into the fret slots for now that doesn't take finish, then removing before fretting. Yes, there will be some finish repair, just like with any refret, but less finish to remove from the slot. Would that work? I've not done it that way, but I might someday, and I'm curious what the experts think.

Obviously I'm not an expert but a couple of thing struck me about this idea.
You'd have to leave the "jamming something" sufficiently proud at the top of the board to pull it, and probably sanded flush at the sides. Otherwise finish would build up around it, making it awkward to level as you go along with coats, say 3 epoxy + multiple finish coats?) And I would be concerned that the finish coats may be lifted/separate around the fret slot ends when pulling to "dam", adding just another thing to be dealt with, unnecessarily in my case, although part of a standard refret with though frets.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Goodness...I think I am guilty of being a bit opaque and confusing the issue.

Here's what I believe your options are:

1. To finish the neck as-is (fret slot ends open), and to deal with whatever residual filling/filing/touchup work as would be done with a refret of an unbound fretboard with through fret ends. Surprisingly enough, very little finish gets into the fret slot ends, so there is no need to mask or temporarily fill the slots, although masking to within 3/32" of the edge of the board makes things a bit easier.

2. To permanently close the fret slot ends with wood or epoxy, then treat as a bound board for finishing and fretting

Neither is particularly difficult or troublesome, so I don't believe there is a significant time or outcome penalty to pay whichever option is chosen.

_________________
For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

Thanks Woodie, had some EIR veneer in my long deceased Grandfather's stash, went in a treat, virtually invisible under naptha.
Actually less trouble/time than binding a FB.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Sorry, that came out sorta short & blunt.

I'm just thinking if you bound the fretboard, the issue of fret ends wouldn't exist, which seems to be one of the variables.

Also, I'm like you in not justifying the expense for the Summit, so I bought the Hosco, and thought that was it. Then I got the Summit on a whim. Its one of those tools that make you ask "why did I wait?" For me anyway. The Hosco is a good tool, so I don't want to discount that either.

As mentioned, and this may be a pain, but inlaying ebony slivers at the fretslot ends, on each edge, turning it into a non-bound fretboard but requiring you to cut frets like a bound fretboard may get the effect you might be looking for.

I just finish the guitar as usual with fret slots open then once dry give it a few strokes with a fret saw and it's back to normal again

That would work too.

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

No chipping happens? That would be my fear; maybe it is an unfounded fear.

Thank you for mentioning that. Yes! I should have been more clear, always take the stroke from the outside in from both sides. In fact I use a pull stroke in the opposite cutting direction. Been there done that with the chips so I learned that one the hard way.