Continuing on through the instruction manual I decided to tackle the frets. I don't have any specialist tools for this, so had to make do with what I've got. I made a notched straight edge by cutting notches in an old fibreglass sail batten. It wasn't quite as wide as I wanted, however it was pretty straight and I tested it against some flat surfaces first and it's pretty rigid. Seemed to work ok on the fretboard and showed a slight convex bow (as described in the guide) so I adjusted it to being flat with a small turn on the rod.



I planed an 8 inch block of wood to make it flat and attached some sandpaper to the bottom and then after taping up the fretboard (twice - I was paranoid about going through the masking tape and gouging the fretboard!) with masking tape and marking the frets with some pen, I ran it up and down a few times. Didn't seem to take much too level them, they didn't seem too bad to be honest, though I'm no expert.

I could see that I'd flattened the tops, so I had a go at reprofiling them with some files. I have plenty of files, three corner and otherwise, but obviously not a fretfile. I found it's a bit of a technique and took a little while to get it. I had a practice on the aforementioned old neck I've got and I eventually managed to do it. Went over them with 400 and 800 grit paper (I don't have any higher grades yet, coming next week) then finished off with some wire wool to polish them.

Again, I'm pretty pleased with the result. Looked at them close up and they seem reasonably round. the proof will be when I play it I guess. Took a photo, but it doesn't really show much.



Leaving it now, as I'm experimenting with different stains and finishes on a bit of old oak flooring, to see how they pan out. I'm now considering using some Rustins Danish Oil on the neck and fretboard (partly because I've got a fair amount of it!). It seems similar to Tru Oil - a varnish, oil and thinner blend and cures fairly hard. I don't want any colour to the neck so won't be using a stain or dye or anything.

Is Danish Oil a reasonable choice for the neck?