Fret removal wood chips

[Ian Davlin The Looth Group]

I have good luck with these with epoxy putty. I usually polish the board slightly when I polish the frets and CA fills, for whatever reason go to a sheen different from the board when I have tried it.

I use a neutral epoxy putty like the JB Weld Kwik Wood and modify the color with dyes and pigments. Another tip is that before the putty cures, you can add grain lines with either a small artists paint brush or touch up pen and it will penetrate enough to be resilient under the slight abrasive work done with fret polishing.

[ビック]

I’ll have to try this next time. I went with the sawdust and CA glue method which was almost seamless but for some reason it turns slightly black even though I’m using wood dust from the same fingerboard and the glue is clear. You can’t really tell because most of it will be under the fret but if you’re really really looking for it, it’s there. Rosewood naturally does have some really dark spots anyway so it’s not too bad…

[Ian Davlin The Looth Group]

I think it has to do with the saturation of the wood dust. It might work better with gel ca now that I think about it. It might not penetrate the dust as much.

[Doug Proper Guitar Specialist]

For what it’s worth, I’ll offer an alternative to Ian’s approach. Whenever I am doing fingerboard repairs, even small chips that will be visible outside of footprint of the fretwire bead, I always prefer to make the repair using wood. I choose a donor wood that is as close a match to the board in color, type and wood grain as I can find in my scrap wood drawer. the bigger your variety of scraps to choose from obviously helps in the end result.

I cut in a sliver that sits proud of the board – glue it in with either cyanoacrylate or hide glue depending on how much of a hurry I am in (most of the time I default to CA). After the glue is dry, i can file or sand it flush with the board and, most of the time, get a trouble free, permanent and invisible repair.

Here are some pictures to illustrate:

[Doug Proper Guitar Specialist]

More Pics

[Doug Proper Guitar Specialist]

Last Pics to illustrate my approach described above.

[Ian Davlin The Looth Group]

Great pics and technique !

[ビック]

Wow amazing detail I really appreciate it a lot. Next step for me is stockpiling scrap wood I guess! Ill go find a junker guitar with similar grain pattern and color. It should be easy though there are tons of second hand guitars where I am.