Fret dressing without fret dressing file

[Diggydude]

Hello,

I've just re-fretted a neck and just have to dress the ends. I've been looking online but everywhere I look, people are using dressing files.

I could buy one, but I'm not sure if the investment is worth it.

Is there a method to dress them without the file? Or should i just go and buy a file?

[Simon Barden]

If you are talking about proper dressing, which in my book is the final rough smoothing of the fret ends to remove sharp corners prior to sanding and polishing, then just mask off the board + side of the neck and use a needle file. Flat and/or triangular. Or use one of those slotted metal fretboard protectors. A dressing file just lets you do it without any masking due to its ‘safe edge’.

But if you are talking about filing the fret ends flat with the side of the neck and then angling the fret ends, then a dedicated file is probably easiest. It’s impossible to do without affecting the finish on the edge of the board or any edge binding. You can fix a fine file (you don’t need anything coarse) to the end of a block of wood at 90° to give you a makeshift end file (the wood glides over the frets and keeps the file perpendicular), and then do the same with a block cut at 45° or so to angle the ends. But if you ever plan to repeat the exercise and do more fret jobs, then it’s worth getting a dedicated tool for the job.