StewMac Fret Cutter
Spend less time filing fret ends!
This is the best tool for trimming the ends off fretwire. A Stewart-MacDonald exclusive, our custom-made steel cutter has improved features you won't find on hardware store nippers.
The jaws are specially hardened for fret work, and they're profiled and flush-ground to cut the wire close to the fretboard. The result is a cleaner cut without pulling the wire, so you'll need less filing. Longer rubber-coated handles allow better access to the frets over a guitar body.
1" (25.4mm) jaw width, 8" (203.20mm) length.
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.
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.
