Fret Polishing

[DHW]

When we were talking about knocking the gloss off the guitar neck you guys got me pretty paranoid about using steel wool. I had been using 0000 to polish the frets up during string changes. What all do you guys do for polishing them up? How high of grit do you go to initially and then subsequently polish with?

 

[vchizzle]

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Fretting/Polishing_and_abrasives/Fret_Erasers.html
These are awesome. I just have the green and yellow, mostly just use the yellow. I'll probably never use steel wool again.

 

[rugerpc]

I use a dental lab engine and the same abrasives and polishing wheels I use for gold.

Mine's way older than this 'cuz they just don't wear out.

 

[markintime]

I use a Dremel with buffing wheels and some jewelers rouge for gold. It has to be fine and not too abrasive on account of gold being such a soft metal. Makes frets slicker than owl snot.

 

[rugerpc]

I use a Dremel with buffing wheels and some jewelers rouge for gold. It has to be fine and not too abrasive on account of gold being such a soft metal. Makes frets slicker than owl snot.

One of my degrees is in biology. I can tell you that since owls throw up the bones of their prey in 'owl pellets', owl snot is particularly slick and lubricating.

 

[markintime]

One of my degrees is in biology. I can tell you that since owls throw up the bones of their prey in 'owl pellets', owl snot is particularly slick and lubricating.

haha! Yeah, I know. I have one in forestry with minor in wildlife biology, but that was pulled from some corny country humor. Still pretty slick, though!

 

[rugerpc]

A lot of the very best humor and old sayings are rooted in fact. That's what makes them so funny/interesting!

 

[DHW]

I use a Dremel with buffing wheels and some jewelers rouge for gold. It has to be fine and not too abrasive on account of gold being such a soft metal. Makes frets slicker than owl snot.

If I have been using 0000 steel wool will I need to polish them up to the point of using the rouge and a buffering wheel? I know steel wool cuts differently than sand paper of a certain grit level but I don't have a loop to magnify and see what they really look like.

 

[DHW]

Also, are we talking about the red jewlers rouge? I think there is a white as well that's not quite as fine?

 

[markintime]

A lot of the very best humor and old sayings are rooted in fact. That's what makes them so funny/interesting!

May have to start a new thread before this gets too far off-topic. Oh, wait, maybe slicker than pulling a greased string out of a cat's a$$? ROFLMAO.

I'll stop now.

 

[markintime]

Also, are we talking about the red jewlers rouge? I think there is a white as well that's not quite as fine?

Yes. But actually there's a blue that is even finer. I got mine, believe it or not, from Sears.

 

[DHW]

Yes. But actually there's a blue that is even finer. I got mine, believe it or not, from Sears.

OK, so blue... ordered.

how high would you polish them before moving to the rouge?

 

[markintime]

OK, so blue... ordered.

how high would you polish them before moving to the rouge?

If you see no scratches, it's polishing time.

 

[DHW]

ok, I ordered the rouge kit that has 1oz of every color so I should be covered for life lol.

 

[gball]

This just made me realize that in 37 years of playing guitar I have never once polished a fret. I hardly ever bother cleaning the sweat marks, snot and other goobers off the things and I definitely never remove the fret cheese from the fingerboard (the mojo is in the cheese).

 

[rugerpc]