I've been playing my blond Telecaster some on and off, but it has a couple of playability issues I need to address. The main one is that the fret ends seem to stick out a bit and I feel them 'bumping' when I go up and down the neck. The second issue is that there is some buzzing on the first fret - the nut slots are a bit low and I may need to make a new nut for it.
I'm going to make a tool to file the fret end bevels and then I'm going to level and crown the frets. I've read a lot about this, but never actually done it. I figure this is as good a time as any. Also, I have a couple guitars and one vintage ukulele that will need some fret work waiting in the wings, so on we go!
Luthier supply places such as Stewart-MacDonald and Luthier's Mercantile sell specialized tools to do the beveling, but I'm going to make a homebrew tool instead. I've seen a bunch of folks on the Telecaster Forums do this, and it looks easy.
I bought a medium mill file - about 6 inches. I also have a pine scrap from something-or-other around here.
The idea is to cut an angle - about 30 degrees - into the wood, and stick the file in it. Then the block gets held against the neck, and files a bevel on the frets.
I don't need the whole length of the file, and I certainly don't need the handle end. The file actually tapers toward one end, and I'm just going to cut it so I wind up with a rectangular section of file.
A hacksaw isn't enough to cut the file, so I try a heavy-duty cutting attachment on the Dremel.
Oh yes!
The Dremel works great and makes lots of arty sparks in the process. I did wear gloves and eye protection during this process.
With the file trimmed to shape, I now cut a 30 degree miter with my trusty (if not exactly accurate) Ryobi miter saw. I also hack off some of the excess length from the scrap.
The fit into the wood block is close. I just need to clean it up a bit with a chisel. A couple of folks used screws to secure the file, but I think I can just have a force fit.
Between a couple of chisel cuts and my rubber mallet, the file fits into the block perfectly.
I now have a fret end beveling tool! Check out those rounded edges - from a router test.
Now I can just run the file up and down the neck and file a bit of length off the fret ends, and make a nice clean bevel.
You can't see it, but I put masking tape along the side of the neck where the tool comes in contact with it, so as to ensure it doesn't get scraped up.
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