After the fretboard is glued to the neck it’s time the dress the frets. Though I’m always careful to press the frets evenly they will always vary in height. To even them out I start by inking the tops then I stick a long piece of sandpaper to a flat surface. When I sand along the fret tops the ink is removed only on the high spots. I continue to sand until the ink is removed from all the frets. This leaves uneve widths up and down the board. The final step is to dress or round the tops and smooth any burrs that may have developed at the ends.
Re-inked Frets
After leveling and recrowning the frets I do it a second time.
Uneven Frets
The missing ink shows a very low fret next to a very high fret.
Leveling the Frets
After running the frets along some sandpaper on a smooth surface the ink is scraped away showing where the high and low spots are.
Fret Crowning File
After leveling the frets I use this file with curved edges to re-crown the fret tops.
Showing the Damage
Careless filing has left grooves in the wood next to the frets. To repair it I use a mini scraper to shave away the area between the frets.
Repairing the Damaged Fretboard
Fret Tops Marked With Ink
You can also see that I have been a little careless while crowing the frets and I’ve damaged the wood next t each fret.
