I have just started polishing my frets and I know there are many ways to go about doing this. I use a fret polish (Mothers mag and aluminum) with my fretguards and get a cloth and just wipe all the grit off the fret. I notice that this takes forever and I am wondering if there is a more efficient and effective method to doing this task? I know that some will use steel weel, but too me that looks like a good cleanup job and I have seen that some people use a dremel with a buffing thing on it to polish the frets. Thoughts?
https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Too...and_abrasives/Micro-Mesh_Soft_Touch_Pads.html This is what my Luthier uses. Starts at #1500 coarse grit & ends up @ 12000 in sequence.
Use Naptha to clean after. {charcoal lighter fluid is the same as naptha} then oil the fretboard after. He uses all the grits in succession starting at 1500 all the way down to 12000. You don't just use one.
Could you use like a polish thing like what I listed to clean up? Those can also make painted guitar necks feel smoother. I remember Fluff making a youtube video about it. I could be wrong about that
Mine tend to stay in decent shape so a pinch of Never Dull which is polish soaked cloth in a can works well for me. It's not abrasive so it won't take out rough spots but it just cleans them up nicely.
That's exactly what I use. I clean them well with pieces of the Never Dull, then buff them with a dry cloth. Gets them plenty shiny. I've never had a reason to try anything more. I don't do this with every string change, but maybe every 2nd or 3rd change, or on a as-needed basis.
A combination of #0000 steel wool and a fretboard oil mixture most of the time. For that pimped out mirror shine, i tape off the fretboard and hit it with a luthier's buffing wheel and compound. FAR faster than ramping up all the way to 12000 grit papers.
It was quite shocking, how much of a shortcut it was, honestly. I'd been using the old elbow grease method with 400 all the way up to 12000 grit for polishing newly crowned frets, and when I went to work building guitars for a boutique brand (which shall remain nameless) I got really hip to the expeditious way of doing most things that could be done faster without compromising work quality. Fret polishing was one of those things.
After leveling and crowning I use this with fret guards or tape. 1200 grit https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Too...ret_Dressing_Stick_with_Micro-Mesh_Belts.html
Steel wool makes a hell of a mess, you have to mask of between the frets which is a PITA or it will ruin your fretboard and all the steel fragments get stuck magnetically to your pickups even deep in the pup routes.
Yea I have heard this on another forum. Seems like there is better more efficient alternatives out there
Scotchbrite by 3M, it's a metal polishing pad. It comes in course (purple), medium (green) and fine (white). Actually, comes in about 6 different grades. https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/119555O/scotch-britetm-hand-finishing-systems-brochure-pdf.pdf
@charveldan Naphtha is indeed good for clean up, but naphtha is rarely (if ever) a component of "charcoal lighter fluid!" Naphtha is however, the main ingredient in traditional Zippo and Ronson lighter fluid for cigarette/cigar lighters. Sadly, some manufacturers and many "Oh, The Babies!" locales/communities no longer allow the use of naphtha for such things. Ya gotta read the ingredients. I simply buy a quart of actual naphtha. Just make sure you have plenty of ventilation and that the container is well sealed when you're done using it, as it will evaporate rather quickly Actual steel, steel wool anywhere near a guitar is a very bad thing. I'm not gonna start an argument over something I absolutely know to be true. You've been warned, use it if you want and some may have been lucky, so far, but.........! Scotch Brite pads of similar grits are far superior in all ways! I use a polishing wheel on a dremel, with Turtle Wax brand, white polishing compound! 'Nuff Said, Gene
