Alrighty, so I've been madly researching fret leveling techniques and tools etc. trying to figure out how to do it and what I need. From what I've seen, I can really minimise the number of specialist tools I need if I'm willing to spend a bit more time on it. I did come across this video which shows a really easy (and free) way to make what is effectively a fret re-crowing tool.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLL8vbDhluo
Hopefully this works well From what I can gather the only tools I really need are:
- various grades of sandpaper
- a perfectly flat beam for a sanding beam
- ? a triangular file (not sure if I need this if I make the recrowning tool from the video)
- masking tape
- slotted straight edge
The straight edge is my issue... Found a couple on Ebay for around $25 including postage but will take weeks to get here and seems a bit excessive for a single guitar build to use once. Is there any other way to make sure the neck is straight before starting fret work?
Also, I'm assuming you should put a few coats of clear coat on the neck before doing fretwork to seal the wood? And how do people usually go about preparing the fretboard for the finish? (I've sanded the neck down with various sandpaper grits but have only used steel wool on the fingerboard itself)
From what I can gather the only tools I really need are:
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