You NEED This Fret Polishing Tool

Nice one Ben. As long as you don't call it 'Ben in the Buff'!
Do you shape wood surface to partially accommodate the radius at all?

Awesome

Nothing is revolutionary about this. Fret erasers work based on the same mechanics. You go through 4 different grits (2000 the last one), and then polishing compund with a piece of fine cotton cloth. I do it all the time. And I get a better end result, in around the same time. And of course you don't have to mess around with pieces of leather fixed to pieces of wood, mineral oils, sand, and so on – all this mess. My opinion is, seeing how a good set of fret erasers + polishing compound does the same job, I think this method does not make much sense.

You should try a custom lap. Carve a groove to fit the fret shape you want, cover with aluminum foil tape and charge with a diamond compound by pressing the corresponding fret wire against the groove with compound. With how soft fret materials are each lap should last a decently long time. If you look up lapping for precision machining it is crazy how fast and how fine you can get without building heat. CBN also acts as a heat sink, if you want to use a dremel tool instead of hand lapping. Can use it for grinding hardened steel without blowing a heat treatment.

Awesome stuff as always! Looking forward to seeing more of the handtool build!

I thought barbers don't use a strop to sharpen anything. the strop is to keep the blade straight. the blade will bend and contour to the face because of how sharp and thin it is and the strop straightens it. maybe im wrong. thought i'd share

Very nice.

I've smoothed and polished the frets on many of my and others' instruments, and I actually rather like that process.

It can be so rewarding to see that deep shine and experience the smooth feel of a polished fret under a new string…

And yes, it can become a bit tedious. But perhaps the main difference is:
I'm not doing it as a job – I'm merely an amateur in this.
But I do like to get it /right/ nevertheless.

I use Cape Cod. Works like a charm.

Would this also work on EVO gold frets?

Great idea! 🙌
My new hobby is (after modding guitars and noodling) knife sharpening. It's addicting. I run out of dull knifes meanwhile… 😢
So I made strops out of old too short leather belts (yeah, I was getting fat 😅). I also have a large variety of polishing blocks and paste with different grits. I will try your method on the frets.
Here my idea:
if the leather strips are cut first at 80 degrees angle, and half of the slant cut off perpendicullar, I imagine the groove matching the fret shape will form faster.
Or 2.: strips cut at 80 degrees and glued very tight together so the thin edges of both strips slightly overlap. This way you don't have a empty gap in the middle. 😊
Or 3.: thin leather undetneath the thick strips.
Edit: Ha! I made the same mustache shape carving on my Ibanez fretboard end (infact two fretboards) wich I shallow scalloped last sunday. But the frets are already polished with a dremel. 🤷🏻

WHOA ! That's funny, I also abhor fret leveling/crowning/polishing. For the leveling I still use my trusty old 12" granite straight edge that I got from a metal workshop auction for cheap and which is just the perfect weight so that you only need to push it back and forth a couple of times with the tips of the fingers to get the job done, and for the polishing I use large and thick round bottle corks (for kitchen jars) that I cut straight in half and add a long straight notch in the length of the cut, then I start with fine steel-wool (which is pushed in the notch) and finish with polishing compound.
But I got to try with leather 'cause the leather fiber is much much finer than the cork fiber.

THANKS FOR THE TIP!

Good idea and a good result.

What's with the metal bogie?

No leather for me, thanks.

Interesting… an eloquent English luthier.. with .. his .. head .. tattooed.

Alternate solution which addresses issues with full blown Dremels: mini dremel-like tools used by nail salons. Thinner, smaller, more precise, far easier to control, less RPMs but still more than enough for polishing frets beautifully. Most are battery powered so no cable to get in the way. And dirt cheap. Try one for yourself. All of the benefits of full blown Dremel tools for polishing frets but with almost none of the downsides. I have been using these mini dremels for years with superb results on my own axes. Then again, I am no luthier. 🙂

Happy to see the hand-build back! The fretboard has come out gorgeous. By contrast, the bridge sticks out like a sore thumb now. I am curious to see how you'll finish it up –surely, you can't "burn it" now it's on?

Yup! I want!

I've only ever. built one guitar to completion and I used a strop to polish the frets when I did it. I cannot believe this is not something more common.

I appreciate what you do so much. You have genuinely had a positive impact on my live.