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Here is a newbie question again
I have a stewmac recrowning file(#4490) It has a small and medium side.
With FW74 fret wire (LMI) Which side would you use..
Boy do I sound dumb
Andy

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

FW74 is standard width fret wire. You should use the medium side. The small side would be used for mandolins and banjos.

If you have a piece of left over wire, try crowning a section. The small side of he file should put two grooves in the top of the fret since the file is narrower than the fret. If this doesn't happen, I guess it doesn't matter which side you use.

You probably already know this, but bear in mind you don't want to take anything off the very top of the fret. One technique is to use a marker (like a red sharpie, for example) to color the flat tops of all the frets. Then manipulate your file to round off the fret while leaving a thin red line down the middle.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

That's what I do Todd, use a red marker, mark all the frets and stop when there is just a very fine line running down the middle (when crowning that is), that's when I switch to fine paper and start to polish.

Andy, I have the same file and use the med side. Once done with the file, I wrap 400,600,800,1000 paper around it and use it to polish the frets.Rod True38774.8816319444

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man, and I use a blue sharpie!!
You guys sure the red one works better??

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

I used a black one once and it was very hard to see. The red was the only other one I had.

But I get ya Peter

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

I do a lot of fret work and will switch from red to blue to break up the monotony. I think the blue has the best tone though
Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

Evan, I disagree with you. The little used GREEN sharpie has the best tone by far. Booming basses and bell light highs.
I actually find it easier to see, in my shop lighing, the "line" without any marker on it. The cross-grain scratches from leveling make a really nice line when I'm done crowning. Just like the marker technique, I stop when there is just a very thin (maybe about .05") line showing. then finish up with sandpapers and a soft backer.

Paul while you and I will have to duke it out at some convention over the sharpie tone debate my only problem with not using the marker in my shop is my wife will say "Hey what the hell did you buy that marker for if you are never going to use it? While we are on that topic when was the last time you used your arbor press to fret anything etc....." Gotta make myself look busy!
Evan

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I use machinist’s bluing, because it wont wipe off as a sharpie will. It will polish off. It does require that you mask off everything though. But I do that anyway.MichaelP38775.4209375

I use my wife's Mary Kay eyebrow pencil...makes my frets look 10 years younger!

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Larry, that's just too funny.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

[QUOTE=L. Presnall] I use my wife's Mary Kay eyebrow pencil... [/QUOTE]

We knew that Larry, but what do you use on the guitar?

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

btw I was going to refinish a pre-war D45 with Miss Breck hairspray any thoughts
EvanEvan Gluck38775.4709606481

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I shoulda seen it coming!

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[QUOTE=Pwoolson] Evan, I disagree with you. The little used GREEN sharpie has the best tone by far. Booming basses and bell light highs.
I actually find it easier to see, in my shop lighing, the "line" without any marker on it. The cross-grain scratches from leveling make a really nice line when I'm done crowning. Just like the marker technique, I stop when there is just a very thin (maybe about .05") line showing. then finish up with sandpapers and a soft backer.[/QUOTE]
Paul--Did you by chance mean .005" width?
Nelson

Hesh, you probably know this but when you level the frets you take off the top of the crown radius. there fore recrowning is more dessing the side of the crown radius to return it to a smooth arc. I like using half radius dressing files for this reaon. The half radius files allow you to file from the sides toward the top there by not affecting the the leveled fret height. Filing straight down with a full radiused fret file that is slightly larger than the fret radius can contact the top of the fret first there by messing up your leveling.

[QUOTE=npalen] [QUOTE=Pwoolson] Evan, I disagree with you. The little used GREEN sharpie has the best tone by far. Booming basses and bell light highs.
I actually find it easier to see, in my shop lighing, the "line" without any marker on it. The cross-grain scratches from leveling make a really nice line when I'm done crowning. Just like the marker technique, I stop when there is just a very thin (maybe about .05") line showing. then finish up with sandpapers and a soft backer.[/QUOTE]
Paul--Did you by chance mean .005" width?
Nelson
[/QUOTE]
Glad someone can read my mind. I almost typed .5" and then thought I was correcting myself by typing .05". Yes, five thousandths of an inch.

[QUOTE=Evan Gluck]
btw I was going to refinish a pre-war D45 with Miss Breck hairspray any thoughts
Evan[/QUOTE]

Be sure to give it a wash coat of clear nail polish first.

I wonder if roller burnishing would be an alternative method of polishing frets? (I realize this is wandering from the original thread topic)
For those of you who might be unfamiliar with roller burnishing it is basically passing a hardened roller over a metal surface to cold work it into a polished condition. I envision a hardened roller of,say 1" nominal diameter, with a hardened shaft thru it for a bearing. The periphery of the roller would be concaved to match the desired radius of the fret.   This roller would be passed back and forth across the fret while under load to polish it.
Any thoughts?
Nelson
npalen38776.5287615741

Nelson;
Harry Fleishmann has an article on his site concerning this exact subject. He recommends passing the fret wire through your wire bender a few times (reversing the curve each time) to work harden the wire. Once the frets are levelled & polished, he burnishes them with a spoon to further harden the working surface of the fret.
He states it increases the life of a fret job immensely.

If you mark a line you can watch your filing progression and stop before contact. You can watch the line caused by the filling marks with out marking a line but it is hard to see in some lighting situations. Anyway here is a rough sketch of what can possibly happen when using a dressing file if you don't watch the line.