3-Corner Fret Dressing Files
Specially made for traditional fret crowning and shaping.
Smooth corners protect the fretboard.
These special files are for those who prefer a traditional method of fret crowning. Their smooth corners won't leave scratches in the fretboard, and they're great for shaping the ends of the frets.
The small fine-cut file has 3" x 1/8" tapered cutting surfaces, and the medium-cut file has 5" x 1/4" tapered surfaces. The large file is known as a cant saw file, and is a favorite of our fret expert Dan Erlewine and many other well-known luthiers. It has a versatile flattened-triangle shape, with a 4-5/8" x 1/2" and two 4-5/8" x 5/16" cutting surfaces. All files have comfortable rubber-coated handles.
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.
Can you lower a single high fret with just a fret crowning file?
You generally cannot lower a single high fret using just a standard fret crowning file. A fret crowning file is designed to reshape the top of a fret after it has already been leveled flat. Its job is to round off the flat spot left by the leveling process, not to remove significant height from a fret. Using a crowning file alone on a high fret will mostly round the sides, not lower the overall height. If you attempt to use only a traditional crowning file to lower a high fret, you risk removing material unevenly and potentially making the fret unlevel or misshapen. Again, crowning files are not meant for significant material removal from the top of the fret. Instead, use the Fret Kisser which makes quick work of leveling an individual high fret, saving time by working only on the affected fret.
