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After the frets are level, I mark the fret tops with marker again, and go at them with a fret crowning file.



The goal here is to round the tops of the frets where they have been flattened by the leveling process.
I have read where people say, "File the top of each fret until just a sliver of black remains on the tops of the frets". The idea is that if you leave a little black on the tops of the frets, you know that they are all still level.
IME, if I were to do it this way the frets may or may not be completely crowned. So what I do is file each fret the same amount of strokes. If at that time all the frets are not properly crowned all the way across, I flip the neck around, come at the frets from the opposite side, and file the same number of strokes on each fret, until the crown is completely rounded all the way across.
The next step in the process is to take a 3 corner file that I have smoothed one of the corners so that it won't marr the fretboard...



....and gently round, or dress, the corners and tops of each fret end. IMO, this makes a big difference in the way the edge of the neck feels. About as much as making sure the fret ends themselves are filed down smooth.

Once this is done, I take a piece of fine sandpaper, and using the fact that my finger is naturally round, I go over the tops of all of the frets, just making certain that all of them are nice and smooth and round on top. This also helps me get rid of any of the black marker that might still be left over.



After which, I buff all of the frets and the fretboard with 0000 steel wool, until they have a nice, smooth shine to them.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

One final shot.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I always love seeing how other people do their fret leveling.... it's such a precision process... and everybody has a differant way of approaching it....
Just my 2 cents on your process... filing each fret the same # of times does not ensure that they will all be level.
A low fret would show up after the fret leveling with a very minimal flat spot on it... by filing this the same # of times as a higher fret... you basicly ensure it becomes a low fret again...
If your worried about your frets not being 100% recrowned by leaving a sliver of black on the top consider this...
when you go over the frets with your hand and the fine sand paper... that does a good job of recrowning that last tiny bit so the frets are 100% crowned... some luthiers dont even use recrowning files and instead start the hand sanding immediatly with a coarser grit of paper...... check out the refret tutorial at frets.com... the gentleman goes strait to the sandpaper after leveling....

Thanks for your reply, Jonny. To answer some of your concerns, firstly, I've never had any problems with my leveling process. It works well enough, and a straight edge along the frets confirms this.
As to Frank Ford's process, I've done it that way as well. It produced, at least for me, a less than satisfactory result, with a crown that was much flatter and wider than I like.
Also, to your points about equal #'s of strokes not ensuring all frets are the same height, I'm with you there. However, you'll notice that I use one grade of paper, and then go straight to steel wool. I've seen builders advocate going through 3 or 4 grits of successively finer paper, followed by steel wool and buffing. IMO, once you go to sandpaper(free hand) and steel wool, you're taking the precision out of the equation. All that care to make sure that you have a little sliver of black left on the fret tops becomes irrelevent once you take it through successive grades of paper free hand. I do my best to do the minimum amount of sanding or filing of the fret tops necessary to get a well crowned, smooth surface. IMO, there's really not much difference.
Also, to your comment about a low fret showing up after the fret level as a small flat spot, which would be further lowered by successive filing, there are no low spots after the fret level. If there are after the initial level(going over them with a fret rocker), i would level again until I had all the frets dead level.
I arrived at this process over several years. I get great results, and good, low action. I've never had anyone return any fret work I've ever done. It works for me.
And, like you said initially, everyone has their own ways of doing fret work. You find what works for you. But I'm always open to suggestions, and I'm always trying to improve on what I'm doing. And I absolutely do appreciate your comments and suggetions, as well as your interest in this thread.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I know that this is kind of after the matter but do you use car buffing compound or the stewmac compound?

Lookin' good, Mikey.
Nice fret markers, .
FWIW, when I used to make fretted instruments,
I used crocus cloth for the last buffing.
It was good enough for me.

Really cool to watch (and appreciate) different techniques now that I have actually done this - very nice fretjob!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Do I see Bocote for your inlay dots? Nice touch Mike!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

WindyCityBlusBox, I used automotive compound this time(there's a pic of the type I used here in one of the earlier posts). I have used the StewMac stuff as well. It all works the same, IMHO.
Thanks, Alan and Virgil! The markers are indeed bocote.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

When I first got into woodworking last year, I also started pen turning and discovered Bocote for the first time - what I find most intriguing is the very fine grain lines it has, which is reminiscent of the pen & inks I used to do as a kid. The GREAT part about you selecting that wood, is we can see the wood grain for such a small item as your fret markers. Cool stuff!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

You make a hell of an argument.... I may just try this method on my next fret level... or a mixture of the two... crown untill there is a sliver of black.. and then count the strokes...

There is no reason not to try new things. I am always trying to improve everything I do. If you get bad results, you can always re-level(assuming jumbo or new frets). However, if you have a method that works well for you, I'd say stick with it.
I came to this method over the years, trying to get the best possible result I could. I abandoned the "sliver of black" advice after years of trying to get a well shaped crown that way, and failing to do so. I'm real particular about the crown. I want it well shaped and well defined, and I want the fret ends that way, too.
You probably already know this, but IMHO, the biggest key to fretwork is careful, considered work, and the frequent use of a fret rocker to constantly check your progress. That, IMHO, is what gives proper results. Counting the strokes(which I would absolutely NOT recommend to a beginner), or leaving a sliver of black on the fret tops, or any of the other little tidbits we hear about how to do this mean very little without a constant attention to careful, measured(as in, check often) work. You can do everything technically right, but go about it in a casual, haphazard, or hurried way, and end up with crap for your trouble. You can also violate some of the "percieved" rules, and come out good. IF you pay attention and go about it in a controlled, methodical way. It also depends how many times you've done a thing. I can't count the number of fret jobs I've done. After a while, you get a certain rythym(spll?) or feel for it. Bottom line is, it doesn't come overnight. You need to do a few before you start changing things up to find what works for you.
Anyway, that's MHO, FWIW.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

That's exactly the point im at. I've done a few... maybe 6 or so....
So im looking at how others do it to try to find the process that works best for me to get totally pro results......
Im really not happy with a few things...
I cant get a consistent crown before switching to sandpaper with my process... or a consistent sliver of black.... yes im getting better but at some point you've gotta say... yeah, it's the tool/process....
I've got the guiardian 3 in one fret file and i might as well be using a pice of toilet paper glue'd to a polished turd.... bah, that things terrible...
Also, I find marking the frets with black marker doesnt work well either as the marker wears away inconsistently before the fret is totally crowned in some places... I've had better luck using a bright light and checking for the reflection to see the dull spot from the leveling paper vs the shiny spot from the crowning file to tell what is/is not crowned.... but that can get a little tiresome on the eyes and brain....
I've got a jackson with SS refret commin thru the works... perhap's it's time i man up and buy a diamond crowning file + a fret rocker
Thanks for the input... i'll put up a thread on my process once the jackson's done and you can comment on my process....

Sounds like you're going about it as well as you can. I had the same inconsistency problems you are having. You just have to keep plugging away until you get the results you're after. It's experience, and trial and error(mostly error ). Good luck.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Time for some nut work. Nut material is corian.
I set the blank in place, and marked the ends. Then I used a half pencil, laid it on top of the frets, and marked the height and radius of the frets on the nut blank.



Then I cut the blank to width using a razor saw.



After that, i put the nut blank in a small vise, and using a large bastard file....



.....I filed the blank down to what I considered approximately half the diameter of the E string, being careful to keep the radius.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

After marking the string positions on the blank, I used a razor saw to start the slots....



...and then, because the slots will be much larger diameter than a guitar's would, I used a small 3 corner file to widen the slots.



I used the 3 corner file because the sharp corner will sit in the slot made by the razor saw, making certain the slots do not drift as I file them.
Here's a pic of the tools I'll be using.



The three files to the left are StewMac files, .065", .085", and .105". The file to the far right is the .056" file from the 8 piece LMII set.
Beginning with the E string, I start filing.





I file a slight drop toward the peghead(not much at all, since this is not my normal angled headstock), and stop filing once I just barely kiss the line that marks the height of the fret tops.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Then, using the bastard file, I start shaping the back of the nut.



Once I get a basic shape, I do final shaping with 220 grit paper, freehand.



I follow that up with 400 grit. Final polish is with the same compound I used to polish the neck. Done by hand with a soft cloth until all surface scratches are removed and the nut has a nice sheen to it.
Here are some final shots.







After final assembly, as part of the set up process, I'll fine tune the nut heights of each individual string.
That's all i got done today. Thanks for watching!

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Really cool man - I am still lacking on a set of nut files - gobs and gobs of money on the first build, but hey, I got most of the goods I need for now - thanks for the pics!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

I hate waiting for finish to cure. It's so booorrring. Fortunately, the wait is finally over! Time for the flatsand/buffing process. We're in the home streatch now.
Here's the set up.


Water, 400 grit paper, and a flat sanding block.
The process is the same as for the neck. i start sanding with a flat block .....


Until all the shiney spots are gone, and the finish is level.

Once i get all surfaces flat and level, I break out the polishing compound and my little 6" buffer, and begin the buffing process.



Getting there.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Once i get one side done, i flip it over and start on the other.



After i finish the initial buffing, i like to go over it again with a swirl remover.



In this case, i'm using Stew Mac swirl remover, but any of them will do the job. I like to do this because I think it gives the finish a little extra"ummph"!

And here are some finished shots.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

The next step was wiring up the pickups and pots.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

And now, the final shots.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Strung with Fender 9050ML flats. The entire bass weighs 6.5 pounds. It's slightly neck heavy, but it does not dive. You can just kinda feel the weight wants to go to the headstock end.
It thumps like you would not believe! Got a great tone. I'm really impressed with the GFS pickup.
Gonna probably debut it at church Sunday a.m.
I'd like to thank everyone who participated in this thread. Thanks so much. Sharing the trip with me really was great fun!

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Stunning job Mike - great way to start a weekend eh?

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

WOW!
Can I say it again, WOW!
Love that bass Mike.
I never thought about getting one of those automotive buffers for geetars.
Guess I'll check those out.....
Did I say, WOW!?
Rock the church!