HTS Spherical Fret Ends

This walk through is more of an Addendum to how to refret, some people like to have Spherical fret ends, this it the process I use to create this shape on frets

It is a longer process than standard refretting and as such does incur an additional charge.

Time to carry out approximatley an extra 1 1/2 hrs over the traditional refret

Using a 3mm steel dremel ball bit, I am going to face the centre of the wheel to shape.

Like so.

Taking our nipped fret end, we are going to shape away.

Using the internal side of the arc, first smooth one side and round the top over.

Repeat for the opposite side.

Keep shaping until you have the desired shape, it takes maybe 20 seconds to shape.

Place the fret into the board and up against the edge

Using a ruler against the edge of the neck, I can make sure all my frets will be in a straight row

We need to prepare the tool prior to shaping the fret ends.

Here I have a simple dremel sitting on my workbench.

We fit a silicon impreganted rubber disc, these are readily available from most hardware stores for approximatley 2 dollars each.

The size is approximatly 20mm diameter by 3mm wide.

Simply feed it in and rotate side to side to create a nice shape.

Nip the other side of the fret with a set of flush cutters