Using tools WRONGLY, to right effect

[stubhead]

First off, I love Stew-Mac's little fretboard guards:
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Polishing_and_abrasives/Fingerboard_Guards.html?actn=100101&xst=3&xsr=15522

Except the slot is not wide enough for many frets, they're slippery and I don't use them right - I just hold the outside edge right up against the fret. I've even built up a little masking tape handle wrapped around the long way, but: it occurred to me that there's something bigger, easier, and cheaper: they're called "eraser shields" and they're a dollar at any art store, anywhere.
http://www.dickblick.com/products/alvin-erasing-shield/
These things work great, I just zapped up a bandmate's frets and never missed the Stew-Mac product, at all. You can also get .05" thick stainless at any metal supply...

#2 - As most everybody figure2 out, a fret crowning file is the ne plus ultra, the pinnacle, the apex predator fingernail file of all time, too. If you play with your fingers a lot you do have to get girly about your nails and trusty ol' Stew=Mac #4491 gets the job done with maximum, ummm, ne plus ultraness.

BUT DON'T LET A FEMALE UNIT SEE YOU DOING IT!!!
:icon_scratch: :help: :dontknow: :icon_scratch:
When you next need to do either your nails, a nicety, or SOMEBODY'S FRETS..... it won't BE there.

"Honey, have you seen my fret file??"

"Gee...what's that?"

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.......

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for_Fretting/Double-edge_Fret_File.html?actn=100101&xst=3&xsr=2805

 

[reluctant-builder]

Hey, Stub. I know this is a necropost, but I figured maybe it was worth reviving with a view to a sticky thread about how to assemble a fret-work toolbox without spending a fortune at stores like Stew-Mac that rebrand otherwise cheaper items and mark up the price.

With the eraser shield ... is that intended to fit over the fret and cover the fingerboard, protecting it while you file or sand?

As for the nail file ... are we talking a standard emory board or a metal file with the tortoise handle and the pointed end?

I was under the impression that Stew-Mac uses jeweler's tools ... do you have any idea where to find cheaper versions of a triangular file, the slotted, diamond file, et al.?

"Fret Removal" pliers / pincers ... whatever. What conventional tool are they, really? Is the same tool the one for cutting the fret tang?

I'm not trying to be lazy, I'm just horrible at searching for things. I was hoping someone with the knowledge already in hand could help to post a shopping list.

Thanks!

 

[Cagey]

With the eraser shield ... is that intended to fit over the fret and cover the fingerboard, protecting it while you file or sand?

Yes. But, I just use masking tape. The fret guard/eraser guard thing is unwieldy for me, having only two hands the way I do.

As for the nail file ... are we talking a standard emory board or a metal file with the tortoise handle and the pointed end?

He wasn't talking about using a nail file on frets, he meant don't let anybody see you using a fret file on your nails, or your fret file will end up missing.

I was under the impression that Stew-Mac uses jeweler's tools ... do you have any idea where to find cheaper versions of a triangular file, the slotted, diamond file, et al.?

The tools are sometimes the same or similar to those used by jewelers, gunsmiths or modelers, and sometimes they're dedicated luthier's tools. You have to evaluate them on a case-by-case basis. They're not always cheaper, but sometimes they're better/different depending on what you do or how you like to work.

"Fret Removal" pliers / pincers ... whatever. What conventional tool are they, really? Is the same tool the one for cutting the fret tang?

They're also knows as "flush cutters" and they're not all created equal. That is, what Craftsman offers isn't going to be the same as what Snap-On or StewMac offers. The jaws are ground to nearly a knife edge, which really wouldn't be that great for wire cutting as they'd go dull in no time flat. But, they need to be that way to get under the frets for pulling them. Then, nobody makes a set good enough for stainless. For all intents and purposes, if you do a lot of stainless fretting, that's a consumable tool.

Some places you might want send away for catalogs from are Micro Mark, Lee Valley, Rockler, Spyderco, StewMac, Luthier's Mercantile, etc.

If nothing else, they're great to pore over in the throne room.

 

[stubhead]

That's what I dud with the "fret shield" - the slots are never the right size for the frets, so I was just holding the ends of them up to the corners anyway. And little sharp slippery things work much better with a handle on it. Now if I'm just doing a few fret ends I can hold the shield and use something to fix the fret end with no problems - I only "tape up" for the first major leveling anymore.

Strangely enough, I had just linked in my New Vice Day post to "frets.com" which is Frank Ford's site. This guy is probably the most respected repair guy in business, his shop tips are amazing:
http://www.frets.com/HomeShopTech/ShopTips/tiplist.html
"Fret files" are just regular files with certain edges ground smooth, and "fret pullers" are just end nippers ground up to a certain edge. One thing I discovered from reading Ford's site - yes ALL of it - is that he uses his belt sander for grinding metal. And sandpaper for sharpening tools like chisels and knives, which I've done for years but thought was lazy, crazy or silly - but it's right there, you don't have to stop and become "sharpening guy." Ford's whole site is here:
http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/pagelist.html#Luthier
"making safe file edges" in the tool-making section is what you're looking for to turn regular hardware store files into exotic luthier tools for 1/3 the price.
http://www.frets.com/HomeShopTech/Magnets/SafeEdgeFile/safeedgefile.html

But the whole site is worth looking through some boring day, mostly to get your brain chomping away. If you approach "Guitar building" as a problem-solving exercise, you can start to see how to do things without buying every last little thing Stew/Mac tells you too. IMO if you've got a saw blade that will cut a .010" slot and a piece of 400 grit wet/dry paper, you've got a saw blade that can widen a .010" slot to .013" and .017" - you wrap the sandpaper around the blade.

And finding things like files, I hit the Lutheran store and Salvation army, do a tour of the yard sales once in a while, there's a lot of sort-of bad files for sale on the internet - but those little sets of ten needle files for less than 10 bucks - they'd probably crap out on metal real fast but they work just fine on bone and wood. I got a different set of "gunsmith" files off the sale table at ACE Hardware, surprised me! Any gunsmith too or jewelry tool or woodcarving tool or modelmaker's tool is fair game, grizzly.com has five pages of files here:
http://www.grizzly.com/search/search.aspx?q=files&cachebuster=1716343838169963.5

But what I extrapolate from Mr. Ford's site & my own experience is that there is not a single instance where you wish to file something, that you can't get the job done with sandpaper wrapped around something-or-other. It may not be ideal, and when sanding anything you have to pay real close attention to where your shrapnel is going - (Which is why an old bath towel is the best working surface) - but you can get it done, without stopping or leaving or buying more stuff.