THIS IS FAIRLY LIMITED IN APPLICATION TO A CLASSICAL GUITAR WITH A FLAT (not radiused) FINGERBOARD.
In case anyone considers setting up their own guitar (and has a crowning tool), someone suggested using a black Sharpie to blacken all the heads of the frets of a classical guitar's flat fingerboard, then use a flat file to level all the frets on a new instrument prior to crowning until all of the black disappears (assuming the frets are all well seated). It certainly saves time searching for buzzing frets and filing them down with a needle file and provides for consistent fret height. It does require a file long enough to cover most of the frets on the fingerboard to provide for leveling.
I need to ask someone if there is any way to save time smooting the ends of the frets along the sides of the fingerboard.
You should order the fret dressing kit and instructions for use from www.stewmac.com If you can find a junky or broken guitar to practice on that would be best. Please don't do it without instructions or guidance.
Maybe a local repair shop with a kindly repair person would be willing to show you how, or let you watch when they do one. Many builders/repairers are happy to share tips with people interested in how they do things.
The main danger is in going too far. Or using the wrong tools and making it worse. You can't put back what you remove.
I am not a professional builder, but have made five of my own. There are certainly many more experienced than I am, but that's my two cents on it!
Thanks. I'll have to look into the oilstone option. I was having trouble avoiding burrs, and was removing too much material in my effort to overcome the problem.
I looked at the price of some of the fret crowning files on E-bay. They ran around $30 to $60, plus shipping. Since I only use one size of fret, I decided to make do without spending that kind of money. What I did to make a tool is described below. Use the following suggeston at your own risk.
"How to make your own fret crowning tool."
(The quality of the tool and results achieved with it depends on the patience and skill of the toolmaker.)
1. Get a piece of wood 1 1/2 inches x 1/4 inch by 2 1/2 inches. This is easily made from scrap. I made mine from a piece of leftover oak, as it is strong.
2. Use a three cornered file to slot the length of one end along the 1 1/2 inch dimension. Use the three cornered file and flat file from a set of needle files to create a shallow groove shaped and sized to fit the fret size that you wish to crown. Make this groove to a depth that will accomodate the height of the frets less an allowance to avoid making contact with the fingerboard with sandpaper over this end and the groove base on top of the fret. The needle files are available fairly cheaply from discount tool stores.
3. Repeat step two on the other end of the tool, but make the groove even more shallow for those frets from which more material is removed. You should wind up with a tool with two groove depths, one on either end.
4. Cut a piece of sandpaper (fairly fine grit to avoid removing too much fret material with each stroke and to keep the paper flexible and thin, so it won't contact the fingerboard, just the top of the fret). The piece of paper should be about 1 1/2 inches wide and four inches long. Wrap it around the end of the tool you just made with a groove depth that will accomodate the height of a specific fret you are crowning after leveling.
5. Using a good brand of sandpaper (such as Norton by 3M) makes it easy to crown frets with this tool. I used 100 grit by Norton, and it took two or three strokes back and forth to crown each fret. BE CAREFUL THAT YOU EVALUATE HOW HIGH EACH FRET IS RELATIVE TO THE DEPTH OF THE GROOVE THAT YOU PLAN TO USE. ALLOW FOR THE VARIATION IN FRET HEIGH ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE FRET. ONE SIDE MAY BE SHORTER THAN THE OTHER.
6. FInish with a very small piece of fine grit sandpaper on your fingertip to remove any remaining scratches.
NOTE: A BADLY MADE TOOL WILL PRODUCE BAD RESULTS. THE NEED FOR A MEDIUM GROOVE ON ONE END AND A SHALLOW GROOVE ON THE OTHER IS FUNDAMENTAL TO AVOIDING SCRATCHING THE FINGERBOARD. YOU CAN MAKE THIS TOOL HALFOR THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH LONG TO GIVE YOU MORE CONTROL RELATIVE TO GROOVE DEPTH VERSUS FRET DEPTH.
If you try this tool on a used fingerboard or a spare piece of fretwire, and proceed with care during the real crowning activity, this tool can save you some time spent waiting for a crowning file to come through the mail and the related expense (which isn't trivial, particularly for a one-time job). It will probably give you more control than trying to use a flat, needle file to create an rounded edge on either side of each fret, with related need to worry about scarring the fingerboard with the edge of a flat (or three-cornered) file.
Don't rush the crowning process, and if you have any doubt about scratching the fingerboard due to the groove depth, get another piece of wood and make an even more shallow groove. The tool can be made less wide for more control over specific regions along a fret and related height variations.
Note: I spent ten minutes making this tool with grooves on both ends. It took a couple of minutes to use it to crown seventeen frets after leveling using that tool. It produced good results. I'd probably have cut it down to an inch or less in width for this particulary instrument application (rather than 1 1/2 inches) given variations in fret height after leveling (due to some needle file material removal based on which frets were buzzing when fretted and going too far on some frets on one side before I switched to the large, flat file (lawnmower sharpening file) method mentioned in the original post).
I leave the tool width described as 1 1/2 inches in the "how to" list above, because most people will, hopefully, not use needle files and use the large, flat file approach with the sharpie marker indicator to avoid removing too much from some frets in some locations.
I would add that if you put masking tape on each side of the fret, the full width of the fingerboard, you will quickly see if you are working too deeply, before you touch the fingerboard.
The problem with using abrasive paper and a grooved block is that it is going to be abrading the top of the fret from the first stroke, and the more you rub, the more you lower the fret, thus ruining all the work you've put into levelling them.
A proper fret file won't touch the top of the fret until the fret is completely shaped, so if you stop filing just before that (when there is still a thin dull stripe across the fret) you know the frets are still level.
Note: I used 320 grit sandpaper, with the rough side up, placed over the top of one fret in the fingerboard (before I started filing the frets down) that still had the original, factory crown, to provide an imprint over which I ran both the shallow and the deeper slots (on opposite ends) to get a perfect impression of the original, crowned fret profile.
The masking tape idea is a good one.
There is a concern that one might go too far with the sanding block and the sandpaper. Insted of 100 grit sandpaper, 320 grit will provide more control in that regard. Note that the curved shape of the channel in the block end will strike the squared sides of the flat, filed fret before the top of the fret will make contact with the base of the sanding block groove. This is why I used the inverted sandpaper on the original, perfectly crowned fret to make the right shape in the block. This is another reason why it is important to have a sufficiently shallow channel, rather than merely one deep one.
You should make a block for each fret width that you work with using the original, unfiled fret profile. These blocks only takes ten minutes or so to make if you have quarter inch thick wood scraps from which to cut them.
Classical guitar set-up
Classical guitar set-up
THIS IS FAIRLY LIMITED IN APPLICATION TO A CLASSICAL GUITAR WITH A FLAT (not radiused) FINGERBOARD.
In case anyone considers setting up their own guitar (and has a crowning tool), someone suggested using a black Sharpie to blacken all the heads of the frets of a classical guitar's flat fingerboard, then use a flat file to level all the frets on a new instrument prior to crowning until all of the black disappears (assuming the frets are all well seated). It certainly saves time searching for buzzing frets and filing them down with a needle file and provides for consistent fret height. It does require a file long enough to cover most of the frets on the fingerboard to provide for leveling.
I need to ask someone if there is any way to save time smooting the ends of the frets along the sides of the fingerboard.
# Posted on January 21st 2010 by Arthur Nordstrom
Re: Classical guitar set-up
You should order the fret dressing kit and instructions for use from www.stewmac.com If you can find a junky or broken guitar to practice on that would be best. Please don't do it without instructions or guidance.
Maybe a local repair shop with a kindly repair person would be willing to show you how, or let you watch when they do one. Many builders/repairers are happy to share tips with people interested in how they do things.
The main danger is in going too far. Or using the wrong tools and making it worse. You can't put back what you remove.
I am not a professional builder, but have made five of my own. There are certainly many more experienced than I am, but that's my two cents on it!
# Posted on January 21st 2010 by irisnevins
Re: Classical guitar set-up
I have successfully dressed the fret ends using a dry oil-stone, which doesn' t cause burrs in the way that a file does.
# Posted on January 21st 2010 by gam
Re: Classical guitar set-up
Thanks. I'll have to look into the oilstone option. I was having trouble avoiding burrs, and was removing too much material in my effort to overcome the problem.
# Posted on January 21st 2010 by Arthur Nordstrom
Re: Classical guitar set-up
I looked at the price of some of the fret crowning files on E-bay. They ran around $30 to $60, plus shipping. Since I only use one size of fret, I decided to make do without spending that kind of money. What I did to make a tool is described below. Use the following suggeston at your own risk.
"How to make your own fret crowning tool."
(The quality of the tool and results achieved with it depends on the patience and skill of the toolmaker.)
1. Get a piece of wood 1 1/2 inches x 1/4 inch by 2 1/2 inches. This is easily made from scrap. I made mine from a piece of leftover oak, as it is strong.
2. Use a three cornered file to slot the length of one end along the 1 1/2 inch dimension. Use the three cornered file and flat file from a set of needle files to create a shallow groove shaped and sized to fit the fret size that you wish to crown. Make this groove to a depth that will accomodate the height of the frets less an allowance to avoid making contact with the fingerboard with sandpaper over this end and the groove base on top of the fret. The needle files are available fairly cheaply from discount tool stores.
3. Repeat step two on the other end of the tool, but make the groove even more shallow for those frets from which more material is removed. You should wind up with a tool with two groove depths, one on either end.
4. Cut a piece of sandpaper (fairly fine grit to avoid removing too much fret material with each stroke and to keep the paper flexible and thin, so it won't contact the fingerboard, just the top of the fret). The piece of paper should be about 1 1/2 inches wide and four inches long. Wrap it around the end of the tool you just made with a groove depth that will accomodate the height of a specific fret you are crowning after leveling.
5. Using a good brand of sandpaper (such as Norton by 3M) makes it easy to crown frets with this tool. I used 100 grit by Norton, and it took two or three strokes back and forth to crown each fret. BE CAREFUL THAT YOU EVALUATE HOW HIGH EACH FRET IS RELATIVE TO THE DEPTH OF THE GROOVE THAT YOU PLAN TO USE. ALLOW FOR THE VARIATION IN FRET HEIGH ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE FRET. ONE SIDE MAY BE SHORTER THAN THE OTHER.
6. FInish with a very small piece of fine grit sandpaper on your fingertip to remove any remaining scratches.
NOTE: A BADLY MADE TOOL WILL PRODUCE BAD RESULTS. THE NEED FOR A MEDIUM GROOVE ON ONE END AND A SHALLOW GROOVE ON THE OTHER IS FUNDAMENTAL TO AVOIDING SCRATCHING THE FINGERBOARD. YOU CAN MAKE THIS TOOL HALFOR THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH LONG TO GIVE YOU MORE CONTROL RELATIVE TO GROOVE DEPTH VERSUS FRET DEPTH.
If you try this tool on a used fingerboard or a spare piece of fretwire, and proceed with care during the real crowning activity, this tool can save you some time spent waiting for a crowning file to come through the mail and the related expense (which isn't trivial, particularly for a one-time job). It will probably give you more control than trying to use a flat, needle file to create an rounded edge on either side of each fret, with related need to worry about scarring the fingerboard with the edge of a flat (or three-cornered) file.
Don't rush the crowning process, and if you have any doubt about scratching the fingerboard due to the groove depth, get another piece of wood and make an even more shallow groove. The tool can be made less wide for more control over specific regions along a fret and related height variations.
Note: I spent ten minutes making this tool with grooves on both ends. It took a couple of minutes to use it to crown seventeen frets after leveling using that tool. It produced good results. I'd probably have cut it down to an inch or less in width for this particulary instrument application (rather than 1 1/2 inches) given variations in fret height after leveling (due to some needle file material removal based on which frets were buzzing when fretted and going too far on some frets on one side before I switched to the large, flat file (lawnmower sharpening file) method mentioned in the original post).
I leave the tool width described as 1 1/2 inches in the "how to" list above, because most people will, hopefully, not use needle files and use the large, flat file approach with the sharpie marker indicator to avoid removing too much from some frets in some locations.
# Posted on January 21st 2010 by Arthur Nordstrom
Re: Classical guitar set-up
NOTE: THE SANDPAPER IS HELD IN PLACE WRAPPED AROUND ONE END OF THE TOOL BY YOUR THUMB AND FOREFINGER.
# Posted on January 21st 2010 by Arthur Nordstrom
Re: Classical guitar set-up
I would add that if you put masking tape on each side of the fret, the full width of the fingerboard, you will quickly see if you are working too deeply, before you touch the fingerboard.
# Posted on January 22nd 2010 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Classical guitar set-up
The problem with using abrasive paper and a grooved block is that it is going to be abrading the top of the fret from the first stroke, and the more you rub, the more you lower the fret, thus ruining all the work you've put into levelling them.
A proper fret file won't touch the top of the fret until the fret is completely shaped, so if you stop filing just before that (when there is still a thin dull stripe across the fret) you know the frets are still level.
# Posted on January 22nd 2010 by skreech
Re: Classical guitar set-up
Note: I used 320 grit sandpaper, with the rough side up, placed over the top of one fret in the fingerboard (before I started filing the frets down) that still had the original, factory crown, to provide an imprint over which I ran both the shallow and the deeper slots (on opposite ends) to get a perfect impression of the original, crowned fret profile.
The masking tape idea is a good one.
There is a concern that one might go too far with the sanding block and the sandpaper. Insted of 100 grit sandpaper, 320 grit will provide more control in that regard. Note that the curved shape of the channel in the block end will strike the squared sides of the flat, filed fret before the top of the fret will make contact with the base of the sanding block groove. This is why I used the inverted sandpaper on the original, perfectly crowned fret to make the right shape in the block. This is another reason why it is important to have a sufficiently shallow channel, rather than merely one deep one.
You should make a block for each fret width that you work with using the original, unfiled fret profile. These blocks only takes ten minutes or so to make if you have quarter inch thick wood scraps from which to cut them.
# Posted on January 22nd 2010 by Arthur Nordstrom
Re: Classical guitar set-up
This video is worth watching before attempting to set up any classical guitar or ukulele:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZOqW5S1NVM
# Posted on January 22nd 2010 by Arthur Nordstrom