Essential Fretting Tools for Beginner

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BassUrges

Mar 14, 2016
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#1
Because I am a nutjob, I've decided to make my first bass build from scratch. Also my second, which is going on simultaneously, and will be fretless. With large-scale laser-cut veneer images! And shell inlay! And headless! 5-String! 36.02" scale! Probably with homemade headless hardware!

But both P-basses, I'm not crazy crazy. OK, one is a reverse P-bass.

Anyway, my birthday was last weekend and I now have a lovely fret-slotting miter box and saw from Stewmac. I can use their 34" scale template and just carefully measure the nut postion 2.02" from the last fret slot and hopefully be OK. But my question is: what are the essential tools I should get while they have their 15% off sale going? is a concave crowning file absolutely necessary? Pressing cauls? Radiused sanding block? Can I level with a carefully cut 2 x 4" or should I buy the fancy aluminum bar they sell?

I own a fair number of tools and I am very handy in general. I did a full setup on my DB when I bought it, for instance. And I have a very long history of making do with the things I have. But on the other hand sometimes the right specialty tool is the difference between an ugly DIY job and something to be proud of.

Recommendations?
 
#2
There are a handful of very different activities involved in making a fretboard that each have their own tool requirements.

Cutting a flat/true blank - I'm assuming you're buying one already cut, so no need here. Otherwise, a table saw and a jointer or a router planing jig are probably the common tools.

Slotting - you've got the fanciest by-hand jig, so all set here. You can get away with a $15 generic backsaw (just pick one of the right kerf) and a home-made miter box, too.

Radiusing - generally, the $20 or whatever for a sanding block is the cheapest and most straightforward option. Some people have much fancier tools to do this (Grizzly sells a very expensive radius machine) but the sanding block will work. It is very slow though. If you have a router and are interested in building jigs for it, you can make your own radius jig, search on here for ideas.

If you get the longer version of the sanding block, it can also be used to true the bare radiused board or the fretted board, although some people like a purpose-designed tool to true. You can use a strip of sandpaper glued to the edge of a cheap level, there's no need to buy the "special" aluminum bar.

Fretting - once there are slots, all you need to get the frets in is a cheap dead blow hammer. Don't try to use a regular steel hammer meant for driving nails. Spend the $10 on a deadblow hammer at Harbor Freight if you don't have one. Some people like the cauls you mention, and pressing the frets in with an arbor press instead of hammering. I've never tried it. Hammering works fine for me, I actually think it's kind of fun.

You also need to be able to cut the frets to length. You can spend another $20 on end nippers designed for this (they have the cutting surface flush with the face so you can cut right up to the fretboard edge and get a clean cut) or just use diagonal cutters (regular wire cutters) and deal with the messy ends by filing them.

Leveling/truing the frets - you can use a $10 hardware store file for this. I use a bastard file meant for chainsaw sharpening. The trick is to work it up and down the fretboard until you don't have high spots. This is easier than it sounds. I just file along each string path until the file has at least barely contacted each fret (this tells you that there aren't any high ones, as a high fret would keep the file from touching it's neighbors). Then a few more passes to even things out, a quick check to make sure you didn't miss anything, and you're done.

Don't try to level with a carefully cut 2 x 4. Even if you get one cut perfectly, they tend to be fairly unstable knotty wood, and also soft. It might move or deform over time. If you really wanted to make your own device for leveling, I would use something dense and stable, like a piece of hard maple with straight grain.

Crowning - after the frets are level, you need to crown them so they're not flat on top. Honestly, although it's expensive, this is the one time in this whole process that the purpose-made tool - the concave file is nice to have. I don't know if there really are any common alternatives anyways.

Cleaning up - you need to clean up the ends of the frets so they're not sharp, and generally do other touch up. I use that same chainsaw file for this job. Lots of people use other small files. Cheap to get, no need to spend on luthier tools. It's worth having a few small files on hand so you can try them and see what works.

In summary -
-Backsaw
-Radius block
-Handful of files
-Special crowning file
-Cutters
-Deadblow hammer

If you already have most of the common generic tools you're probably only out $50 for the radius block and the crowning file. If you need to start from scratch it's probably more like $100 total.
 
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#3
Forget a 2x4. Even if it starts out straight, it wont stay that way. I think a leveling beam is essential, and ideally a full 24" length. You can use a shorter one, but i think it requires a lot more skill to avoid "dishing" part of the neck inadvertently. I bought a precision ground box aluminum beam online and then realized an inherited cast aluminum level was just as straight and rigid. The overpriced Stewmac aluminum radius beam can be used to level the frets as well, the double duty makes the cost a little more palatable. There are seemingly 100 tools for crowning frets, i just use a traditional safe edge three corner file, and got good results.
 
#4
I’m not sure why it never occurred to me to use a level for...uh, leveling, bu I’m pretty sure I have a 36” one around here somewhere.

I have many files in many shapes and sizes but I admit the z-file looks attractive.
 
#5
the crowning file. the sm ones pin easily on softer fretwire so some chalk is in order. as stated above though, it's the one speciality tool that there aren't competent substitutes for.

i highly suggest a pair of decent calipers and a 24" precision straight edge. the measuring stuff you find at the hardware store is usually best suited for housework not quality instrument making.

not a fretting tool. nut files. yeah, there are 1001 workarounds for not having some but at the end of the day they really do work well and save time.

again not a fretting tool but, the string spacing gage -the Kevin Ryan designed one. makes string layout really easy.
 
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#6
I have nut files from the DB setup, and I may CNC cut a nut from stainless like I did for my Jazz. So that's covered. I have some...adequate...calipers from years of reloading/gunsmithing. Also a decent micrometer set but that's probably not going to do a lot of good.
 
#7
BassUrges said:
I’m not sure why it never occurred to me to use a level for...uh, leveling, bu I’m pretty sure I have a 36” one around here somewhere.

I have many files in many shapes and sizes but I admit the z-file looks attractive.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it never occurred to me until I checked my old cast aluminum one with a precision straight edge, it's dead flat and true, but not all levels are created equal. The newer ones seem to be ground well, but not as rigid. You need a precision straightedge to evaluate the level! My old level is 24" long x 1" thick along the edge, which seems about right, very similar to my official box aluminum leveling beam. I have a notched straightedge calibrated to Rickenbacker 33.25" scale, used to evaluate the straightness of the FINGERBOARD, not the frets. It has one precision ground notched edge, and one flat edge, handy little bugger. If you are only planning on standard 34" scale bass building, those notched rulers are common on ebay. I just use off-the-shelf hardware store fine-cut files (except for fret crowning) for stuff like beveling fret edges, works fine. It's easy to get sucked into buying expensive single-use Luthier tools, but look around at what you have or can easily get locally, a lot of things can be re-purposed.
 
#9
I was scrounging around for a fret hammer, remembered I had a little Brownell gunsmith tool kit, just a fancy screwdriver with magnetic tips, but it came with a nice little brass/Delrin faced hammer. Voila! Fret hammer. Works perfect. One thing you can’t really cheap out on: nut files. Believe me, I tried.
 
#10
I got my leveling beam at Home Depot $15. "The FatMax 24 in. non-magnetic level has an accuracy of 0.0005 in./in." If that is accurate then 25 x .0005 = .0125 in worst case. But then you just tilt it 1/100th of an inch :D Two sided duct tape and sandpaper and you're good to go.
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#11
Great thread!

I’ve done my fair share of fret work and for crowning I’ve done them all with a home made triangle file with smoothed corners.. Recently been looking to shave off some time with tool upgrades, but that Stew Mac z file is pricy!

Anyone ever check out the Hosco fret crowning files?

TL-FF1 : Fret Crown File | HOSCO-INTERNATIONAL

I’ve seen a few other alternatives like a Baroque for $25 on Amazon, but mixed reviews.

Thanks!
 
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