ikay Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 Having successfully rustled up a DIY notched straight edge, next on the list is a DIY fret crowning tool of some sort. I've toyed around with a few ideas (below) without much success. The results are as flaky as the tools look! I'm finding this one a bit trickier. The benefit of your experience and any practical advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpc Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 I've used this method. The tool was simple and cheap. The sandpaper was the only real cost and I had most of that laying around. Easy to do and the results look great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikay Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Thanks very much for for that. It's incredible that such a rough looking tool can give such decent results! I'll rustle one up and give it a go on my old test neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 I would treat yourself to the proper thing from Chris Allsop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpc Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 1 hour ago, gary mac said: I would treat yourself to the proper thing from Chris Allsop That's hardly in the spirit of DIY. Besides, I'm not convinced those convex files won't take a little off the top of the frets. With the above method it is difficult to get it wrong if you follow the video carefully. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikay Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 9 hours ago, gary mac said: I would treat yourself to the proper thing from Chris Allsop I saw the Chris Allsop fret crowning file and did wonder about that. I guess it would be a quicker job with one of these and more consistent. Do you use one of these yourself and how do you find it? My frets are 2.7mm medium jumbo so assume I'd need the 2.5mm file, would that be right? In the meantime I'm playing around with a simple block of wood as bpc suggested above. I haven't even bothered with the chamfer. Just added some guide lines to help set the angle and rounded off the bottom edge which makes it easy to adjust the tilt. It works remarkably well although a bit more practice needed before I risk using it in anger! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 I got a three-sided concave fret file from eBay cheaply, which I find works well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfretrock Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 On 11/10/2021 at 18:39, ikay said: Having successfully rustled up a DIY notched straight edge, next on the list is a DIY fret crowning tool of some sort. I've toyed around with a few ideas (below) without much success. The results are as flaky as the tools look! I'm finding this one a bit trickier. The benefit of your experience and any practical advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Once you've straightened the neck, surley you need to level the frets (or at least check them) before crowning? I also took a DIY approach and stuck 400 grit (or finer) wet/dry onto a 16 inch spirit level (reasonably flat, checked against an engineers rule) using very thin double sided tape. This tape is about as tick as fag paper. Worked Ok, in this case the proper tools would have cost much more than the bass was worth! The fret levels were dreadfull anyway and would have been unplayable. The frets were crowned with a fine flat file having masked the neck with tape and marked the frets with black Sharpie. A bit tedious. Then finish off with increasing grades of wet/dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfretrock Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 43 minutes ago, Dan Dare said: I got a three-sided concave fret file from eBay cheaply, which I find works well. I would worry about taking the top off the fret with a concave file. Do you mark the fret with a Sharpie to see where it cuts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikay Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, pfretrock said: Once you've straightened the neck, surley you need to level the frets (or at least check them) before crowning? Yes, frets will be levelled before crowning, this thread is just about suggestions or tips for the crowning bit. Edited October 14, 2021 by ikay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 19 hours ago, ikay said: I saw the Chris Allsop fret crowning file and did wonder about that. I guess it would be a quicker job with one of these and more consistent. Do you use one of these yourself and how do you find it? My frets are 2.7mm medium jumbo so assume I'd need the 2.5mm file, would that be right? I do use them myself and have a couple of different sizes. 2.5mm would probably be the best choice for you. He would, I'm sure advise you. He is offering 10% off at the moment , so I ordered another diamond fret levelling file yesterday and it arrived this morning. 19 hours ago, ikay said: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikay Posted October 15, 2021 Author Share Posted October 15, 2021 4 hours ago, gary mac said: I do use them myself and have a couple of different sizes. 2.5mm would probably be the best choice for you. He would, I'm sure advise you. He is offering 10% off at the moment , so I ordered another diamond fret levelling file yesterday and it arrived this morning. Thanks for that, I'll follow up with Chris A. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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