Frets need to be rounded to remove the flat tops after levelling, or when you dress frets to remove wear grooves. A rounded fret top is best achieved by using a rounded file !
This is a diamond fret crowning file. A diamond file with a concave profile is mounted in shaped handle made of engineering plastic. These files last for many fretboards and are equally long lasting on stainless frets and normal nickel silver frets.
The diamond file itself is 2.5mm wide by about 35mm long and is concave to match the fret profile - when in use the file stays on the fret very well, there's no chatter.
When in use, the file stays on the fret very well and there's no chatter. Being a diamond file it cuts equally well when moving forwards or backwards.
We have used a very low friction engineering plastic (so if you do slip it will not scratch badly!), which is used in many of our other fretting tools. Diamond Files are really the best surfaces developed by mankind for abrasion - the resulting surface is by far the smoothest hand filed surface possible - hence less finishing and polishing
An excellent finish results and and a full polished fret is quickly obtained by using sandpaper of about 1000 grit, 1500 grit and then micromesh of 8000 grit or over. Its only a couple of rubs with each and if you use a spring steel strip to protect the fretboard then the sandpaper glides across the surface of the fret and strip easily.

Guitar Tool: Fret Crowning  2010-01-01  Id:230  ChrisAlsopGuitar  

Current Price: £30.28

This is a short diamond file with a permanently bonded oak handle. It is designed to be guided along an individual fret for eliminating localised high spots and for reshaping the fret crown into a peak after fret levelling.
Fine Diamond files - which consist a coating of industrial diamonds embedded in a flat metal surface - give an extremely smooth finish and also have the advantage that they cut equally well in any direction of travel. This allows a back and forth motion to concentrate the abrasion on a particular area and keep the file always in contact with the fret, which helps achieve better accuracy of cut.
Diamond files produce a very smooth finish on the frets - this property makes these files suitable for any type of fret shaping. Once the frets are level the flat tops on the frets need reshaping to regain the peaked crown. These files have all sharp edges ground off so can be guided along the fret to reshape the crown. As always, before using any type of abrasive tools on a guitar it is recommended suitable protection. Ideally use our ultra thin hardened steel protector strips (see our other items) to protect the fretboard and allow smooth motion of the file.

Guitar Tool: Fret Levellers  2010-01-01  Id:206  ChrisAlsopGuitar  

Current Price: £19.41

This is a diamond file mounted in a holder which allows it to be guided along the fretboard with the file cutting a level onto the tops, or crown, of the frets. The device is made in our workshops by Chris Alsop and provides an efficient and easy to use solution to getting the frets level.
The file can be moved along in the holder and clamped in any position. It can extend out from one side to just over half its length, this is great for actually being able to see which frets are getting abrasion as you gently move the file. The default file is a fine grit file 150mm long, which is ideal for levelling frets over large sections of the fretboard and will last well. Other files available (see our separate advert) are coarse grit files - which remove the material faster, and shorter files - 75mm long half length files, which are ideal for levelling high spots.
Exchanging the file is quick and simple so its OK to swap out files for different stages of the same job.

Guitar Tool: Fret Levellers  2010-01-01  Id:209  ChrisAlsopGuitar  

Current Price: £31.04

This is a diamond file mounted in a holder which allows it to be guided along the fretboard with the file cutting a level onto the tops, or crown, of the frets. The device is made in our workshops by Chris Alsop and provides an efficient and easy to use solution to getting the frets level.
The file can be moved along in the holder and clamped in any position. It can extend out from one side to just over half its length, this is great for actually being able to see which frets are getting abrasion as you gently move the file. The default file is a fine grit file 150mm long, which is ideal for levelling frets over large sections of the fretboard and will last well. Other files available (see our separate advert) are coarse grit files - which remove the material faster, and shorter files - 75mm long half length files, which are ideal for levelling high spots.
Exchanging the file is quick and simple so its OK to swap out files for different stages of the same job.

Guitar Tool: Fret Levellers  2010-01-01  Id:210  ChrisAlsopGuitar  

Current Price: £31.04

This is a diamond file mounted in a holder which allows it to be guided along the fretboard with the file cutting a level onto the tops, or crown, of the frets. The device is made in our workshops by Chris Alsop and provides an efficient and easy to use solution to getting the frets level.
The file can be moved along in the holder and clamped in any position. It can extend out from one side to just over half its length, this is great for actually being able to see which frets are getting abrasion as you gently move the file. The default file is a fine grit file 150mm long, which is ideal for levelling frets over large sections of the fretboard and will last well. Other files available (see our separate advert) are coarse grit files - which remove the material faster, and shorter files - 75mm long half length files, which are ideal for levelling high spots.
Exchanging the file is quick and simple so its OK to swap out files for different stages of the same job.

Guitar Tool: Fret Levellers  2010-01-01  Id:211  ChrisAlsopGuitar  

Current Price: £31.04

This is a diamond file mounted in a holder which allows it to be guided along the fretboard with the file cutting a level onto the tops, or crown, of the frets. The device is made in our workshops by Chris Alsop and provides an efficient and easy to use solution to getting the frets level.
The file can be moved along in the holder and clamped in any position. It can extend out from one side to just over half its length, this is great for actually being able to see which frets are getting abrasion as you gently move the file. The default file is a fine grit file 150mm long, which is ideal for levelling frets over large sections of the fretboard and will last well. Other files available (see our separate advert) are coarse grit files - which remove the material faster, and shorter files - 75mm long half length files, which are ideal for levelling high spots.
Exchanging the file is quick and simple so its OK to swap out files for different stages of the same job.

Guitar Tool: Fret Levellers  2010-01-01  Id:212  ChrisAlsopGuitar  

Current Price: £31.04

This is a diamond file with a permanently bonded oak handle. It is designed to be guided along the fretboard with the file cutting a level onto the tops, or crown, of the frets.
Fine Diamond files - which consist a coating of industrial diamonds embedded in a flat metal surface - give an extremely smooth finish and also have the advantage that they cut equally well in any direction of travel. This allows a back and forth motion to concentrate the abrasion on a particular area and keep the file always in contact with the fret, which helps achieve better accuracy of cut.
The default file is a fine grit file 150mm long, which is ideal for levelling frets over large sections of the fretboard and will last well.
Diamond files produce a very smooth finish on the frets - this property makes these files suitable for any type of fret shaping. Once the frets are level the flat tops on the frets need reshaping to regain the peaked crown. These files have all sharp edges ground off so can be guided along the fret to reshape the crown. As always, before using any type of abrasive tools on a guitar it is recommended suitable protection. Ideally use our ultra thin hardened steel protector strips (see our other items) to protect the fretboard and allow smooth motion of the file.
We have used Oak for this product as it is a strong and versatile wood used in hand tool handles for years. Beech is also nice for file handles and we make this item in Beech. The tool works equally well in almost any type of wood! Diamond Files are really the best surfaces developed by mankind for abrasion - the resulting surface is by far the smoothest hand filed surface possible - hence less finishing and polishing!

Guitar Tool: Fret Levellers  2010-01-01  Id:207  ChrisAlsopGuitar  

Current Price: £23.71

This is a diamond file with a permanently bonded oak handle. It is designed to be guided along the fretboard with the file cutting a level onto the tops, or crown, of the frets.
Fine Diamond files - which consist a coating of industrial diamonds embedded in a flat metal surface - give an extremely smooth finish and also have the advantage that they cut equally well in any direction of travel. This allows a back and forth motion to concentrate the abrasion on a particular area and keep the file always in contact with the fret, which helps achieve better accuracy of cut.
The default file is a fine grit file 150mm long, which is ideal for levelling frets over large sections of the fretboard and will last well.
Diamond files produce a very smooth finish on the frets - this property makes these files suitable for any type of fret shaping. Once the frets are level the flat tops on the frets need reshaping to regain the peaked crown. These files have all sharp edges ground off so can be guided along the fret to reshape the crown. As always, before using any type of abrasive tools on a guitar it is recommended suitable protection. Ideally use our ultra thin hardened steel protector strips (see our other items) to protect the fretboard and allow smooth motion of the file.
We have used Oak for this product as it is a strong and versatile wood used in hand tool handles for years. Beech is also nice for file handles and we make this item in Beech. The tool works equally well in almost any type of wood! Diamond Files are really the best surfaces developed by mankind for abrasion - the resulting surface is by far the smoothest hand filed surface possible - hence less finishing and polishing!

Guitar Tool: Fret Levellers  2010-01-01  Id:208  ChrisAlsopGuitar  

Current Price: £23.71

This is a diamond file mounted in a holder which allows it to be guided along the fretboard with the file cutting an accurate bevel on the fret ends. The handle is constructed from very low friction, high grade engineering polymer. These files last for many fretboards and are equally long lasting on stainless frets and normal nickel silver frets.
The main advantage of using a Bevel File is that a really consistent professional job is achieved where all the fret ends are at the same angle. This main point about bevelling is to make sure there are no sharp edges or uncomfortable fret ends which hamper playing. If a fret end is too long then it disturbs the feel of the neck as the players moves around the fretboard; if the fret end angle is too shallow then the string can easily start to slip off the end of the fret.
It is also surprising just how much of the fretboard space is used up by the bevels - a 45 degree bevel will use about 1mm of the fret wire and so reduce a 43mm neck to 41mm playable width. These bevel files can be made to any angle as low as zero and to a maximum of 60 degrees (please enquire). The cutting file is a fine grit diamond file which leaves a good finish and all that is needed is the final light sanding to remove any scratches or uncomfortable edges and finally a polish.

Guitar Tool: Fret Bevelling  2010-01-01  Id:216  ChrisAlsopGuitar  

Current Price: £31.73

The diamond file which is mounted in a holder allows it to be guided along the fretboard with the file cutting an accurate bevel on the fret ends. The handle is constructed from very low friction, high grade engineering
The main advantage of using a Bevel File is that a really consistent professional job is achieved where all the fret ends are at the same angle. This main point about bevelling is to make sure there are no sharp edges or uncomfortable fret ends which hamper playing. If a fret end is too long then it disturbs the feel of the neck as the players moves around the fretboard; if the fret end angle is too shallow then the string can easily start to slip off The cutting file is a fine grit diamond file which leaves a good finish and all that is needed is the final light sanding to remove any scratches or uncomfortable edges and finally a polish.

Guitar Tool: Fret Bevelling  2010-01-01  Id:218  ChrisAlsopGuitar  

Current Price: £31.73

The diamond file which is mounted in a holder allows it to be guided along the fretboard with the file cutting an accurate bevel on the fret ends. The handle is constructed from very low friction, high grade engineering
The main advantage of using a Bevel File is that a really consistent professional job is achieved where all the fret ends are at the same angle. This main point about bevelling is to make sure there are no sharp edges or uncomfortable fret ends which hamper playing. If a fret end is too long then it disturbs the feel of the neck as the players moves around the fretboard; if the fret end angle is too shallow then the string can easily start to slip off The cutting file is a fine grit diamond file which leaves a good finish and all that is needed is the final light sanding to remove any scratches or uncomfortable edges and finally a polish.

Guitar Tool: Fret Bevelling  2010-01-01  Id:219  ChrisAlsopGuitar  

Current Price: £31.73

Results from using a one of our bevel files. The diamond file which is mounted in a holder allows it to be guided along the fretboard with the file cutting an accurate bevel on the fret ends. The handle is constructed from very low friction, high grade engineering polymer. These files last for many fretboards and are equally long lasting on stainless frets and normal nickel silver frets.
The main advantage of using a Bevel File is that a really consistent professional job is achieved where all the fret ends are at the same angle. This main point about bevelling is to make sure there are no sharp edges or uncomfortable fret ends which hamper playing. If a fret end is too long then it disturbs the feel of the neck as the players moves around the fretboard; if the fret end angle is too shallow then the string can easily start to slip off the end of the fret.
These bevel files can be made to any angle as low as zero and to a maximum of 60 degrees (please enquire). The cutting file is a fine grit diamond file which leaves a good finish and all that is needed is the final light sanding to remove any scratches or uncomfortable edges and finally a polish.

Guitar Tool: Fret Bevelling  2010-01-01  Id:217  ChrisAlsopGuitar  

Current Price: £36.11