Kevin Chilcott
Luthier
RE-BEVELING THE FRET ENDS
'Filing' the angle on the edge of the frets.
A nice even 45 degree (or less) angle is needed on the frets at the edge of the fingerboard - from the First
to the Last, which also forms in a 'straight
line' which follows the edge of the
fingerboard..... and you will be amazed how few guitars actually have this right
!
The tricky part is
knowing how far to go and be aware
of when the file starts 'skimming' the masking tape.
Being 'heavy' on the file and going through the tape will start taking off the
lacquer at the edge of the fingerboard - and that is not
what is needed. Carefully does it
!
This is one of those jobs where being ambidextrous
to some extent is really useful.