Fret Polishing

[sully]

Re: Fret Polishing

steel wool's not gonna bug rosewood; it'll scratch up ebony, though. that said, if you scratch the ebony with the steel wool, you can get them out pretty easily.

[Madness]

Re: Fret Polishing

[ QUOTE ]
It's the way to go. I've also used a dremel with a mini buffing wheel.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree, this is also how I do it.

[Jester700]

Re: Fret Polishing

OK, what's the reasoning behind "don't go against the grain"? I use 0000 steel wool and just go at it. Yes, it lightly scratches the wood. No, that doesn't bother me. Is it just the aesthetic thing, or are there other reasons?

If I was working on someone else's axe, it'd be different, but for me, I don't see the big deal.

[fett]

Re: Fret Polishing

Why not use the eraser on a pencil? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Chad]

Re: Fret Polishing

I use 0000 steel wool and instead of masking I use fingerboard guards that I bought from Stewmac. Those really make it a lot easier/quicker than masking.

[Racerx2k]

Re: Fret Polishing

I use the 0000 Steel wool method. Just did the neck for my project guitar, an hour ago, and it came out, nicely. If you read Dan Erlewine's book, that's what he recommends, too.

[MetalMedal II]

Re: Fret Polishing

[ QUOTE ]
Hmmm.... 3 totally different ideas.


[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm, so far, no one posted what I use: Brasso. It works great to get a mirror shine with some cotton rags and a little elbow grease. A little dab can polish 4 to 5 frets at a time, and it doesn't take too long neither. I'll hit the board with boiled linseed oil or lemon oil just before and after I polish the frets.

[Racerx2k]

Re: Fret Polishing

Yeah, well, I just tried that, in addition to the 0000 steel wool, and while it DID make the frets look nicer, it also blackened the maple fretwood, adjacent to the frets. DOH! It's minimal, cause once I noticed what it was doing, I changed things up, but I can still notice, even if my wife said she couldn't.

[sully]

Re: Fret Polishing

[ QUOTE ]
OK, what's the reasoning behind "don't go against the grain"? I use 0000 steel wool and just go at it. Yes, it lightly scratches the wood. No, that doesn't bother me. Is it just the aesthetic thing, or are there other reasons?

[/ QUOTE ]

that's pretty much it, same reason why you sand with the grain. i'm sure there's more to it, but there ya go.

you CAN go against the grain, but get the scratches out by goin with the grain when you're done.

sully

[MetalMedal II]

Re: Fret Polishing

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, well, I just tried that, in addition to the 0000 steel wool, and while it DID make the frets look nicer, it also blackened the maple fretwood, adjacent to the frets. DOH!

[/ QUOTE ]

Really? Is the board sealed? I only have one maple-boarded guitar (a charvel Model series neck), and doing the Brasso thing didn't darken the baord, but I also know the fretboard is sealed. The reason I use some kind of oil before polishing is to saturate the wood pores, so in case some of the brasso compound gets on the board, it won't sink into the wood (for the rosewood and ebony boards). Since my maple board is sealed, I don't have to worry about anything sinking into the wood.

I also really try and confine the brasso compound to the fretwire itself and not onto the rest of the board, although it's almost impossible to keep it all off! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] In the past I have applied the stuff on the fretwire with a Q-tip, and polish it right after with a cloth. I also use my fingernails to really dig into each side of the fret with the cloth which really rubs a lot of oxidation off as well as picks up any residual compound that goes onto the board.

This whole technique I got from one of those Fender Frontline mags several years ago from one of SRV's techs, using his #1 or 2 rosewood-boarded strat in the pics. I think he used Flitz instead of Brasso, but they're very similar.

[Racerx2k]

Re: Fret Polishing

What I meant was it stained the fretwood, at the frets, meaning at the edge of the fretslots (where the wood meets the fretwire, itself). This would mean that the wood material could very likely be unprotected, there. It was somewhat easy for the Brasso to make it under the masking tape, during the buffing process, even though I was rather careful in my masking technique.

[sully]

Re: Fret Polishing

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, well, I just tried that, in addition to the 0000 steel wool, and while it DID make the frets look nicer, it also blackened the maple fretwood, adjacent to the frets. DOH! It's minimal, cause once I noticed what it was doing, I changed things up, but I can still notice, even if my wife said she couldn't.

[/ QUOTE ]

to get rid of the discoloration (if you're so inclined), get a razor blade and scrape it gently until the gunk is gone. then oil the board with boiled linseed oil.

[jacksonaxes]

Re: Fret Polishing

I made my own fretboard protector with an old credit card, slotted the width of the frets, it works good.

[Racerx2k]

Re: Fret Polishing

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, well, I just tried that, in addition to the 0000 steel wool, and while it DID make the frets look nicer, it also blackened the maple fretwood, adjacent to the frets. DOH! It's minimal, cause once I noticed what it was doing, I changed things up, but I can still notice, even if my wife said she couldn't.

[/ QUOTE ]



to get rid of the discoloration (if you're so inclined), get a razor blade and scrape it gently until the gunk is gone. then oil the board with boiled linseed oil.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wouldn't that prove ineffective on an already finished maple fretboard? I've never used linseed before, so I wouldn't know.

[sully]

Re: Fret Polishing

hm. i guess that i'm surprised then that you have discoloration if you've got a hard finish on it. if it's just dirt on top of the finish, you could try some naptha to get it off.