Hey Stan, Chuck, Simon and Andrew sorry for not responding to your latest comments but I have been without a computer for 3 weeks. Well not actually without a computer, but without a computer that actually works. Seems like life is ganging up on me. But I have managed to get a bit more done.
Now where was I? That’s right, just finished bashing the frets in. ‘Tis time to dress them.
Now, before you dress the frets you have to make sure the neck is straight. And to make sure the neck is straight you need a slotted straight edge. I have slotted straight edges for Fender, Gibson and a long scale bass but I chose to make this guitar with a 650 mm scale length, which is typical for real classical guitars. This is a smidge longer than a Fender and a lot longer than a Gibbo so I needed a new slotted straight edge.
Don’t have $70+ for a real one? Simples. Go to the Big Green Shed and grab their most expensive spirit level………… and then take it to the section where they sell their cheapest aluminium flat plate and use it to go through all the 2 or 3mm thick aluminium flat plates and find the straightest piece. Buy a metre of it and for a fraction of the price and you should have enough to make 2 fairly “true” straight edges. Don’t forget to return the very expensive spirit level!
Measure the fret positions and file the slots (it’s only aluminium so it’s not too hard) and you’ve got yourself a passable slotted straight edge.
There is no radius on a classical fretboard so I just used a flat piece of wood and some 400 grit paper to level them all off and then used a fret rocker to check each fret.
My fret job was pretty “average” so by the time I had levelled them off I needed to round off the frets with a fret file and then polish them with 400 grit paper, 000 steel wool and a final going over with 0000 steel wool.
Just a few more things to do and finally, the neck should be finished.
Cheers guys.
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