Fret End Dressing File – StewMac

Fret End Dressing File

The first thing a player feels is the fret ends, so always shape them with this file. Smooth, non-marring edges glide on the fingerboard while the fine-toothed sides deburr and round the fret.

For rounding, shaping and deburring.
This specialized file dresses the ends of the frets after they’ve been installed, trimmed flush and beveled.

One thin edge is ground “safe” to help protect the fretboard, and the other rounded over. This file cuts only where it needs to: on both sharp corners of the unground thin edge, and on both of the wider toothed cutting surfaces.

The cutting surfaces smooth the fret end bevel, and the sharp corners nip off the sharp burrs at the edge of the fret bevel where it meets the edge of the neck. With the safe edge facing down, the cutting surfaces of this little file do a good job of rounding over and shaping the fret ends.

File dimensions are .062″ x .125″ x 6″, with 3″ cutting surfaces.

Essential for Fretting
This item is 1 of the 7 tools included in our Essential Fretting Tool Set, a compilation of tools you’ll need for the fundamentals of fret work. The set also includes our book, Fret Work Step-By-Step by Erick Coleman with Dan Erlewine.

Works on stainless frets, too!
All of our tools are suitable for use on stainless-steel fretwire*. Modern stainless-steel fretwire is known to be harder than the traditional nickel-silver blends, but our own shop experience indicates the wire does not cause premature wear of files or sandpapers.
*Excludes our original Fret Tang Nippers. We recommend our Deluxe Fret Tang Nippers for stainless-steel fretwire.