Fret Beveling File

Take a look at the edge of your frets. Do you see how each fret has a nice even 35-degree bevel on the edges? These bevels round the edges of the frets, so they don't dig into your hand while you are playing your guitar. If you didn't have these bevels, you guitar would be pretty painful. You might think it would take forever to file all the frets one-by-one into perfectly shaped 35-degree angle bevels. Well, there is a faster, far more accurate way: the fret bevel file.

How it works

The fret bevel file is an amazing luthier tool that is designed to efficiently and accurately file a bevel in the edges of all the frets. It consists of a metal file that is inserted into a block of wood or plastic at a 35-degree angle. Half of the file is sticking out of the block while the other half is securely fixed in the block. To use the fret bevel file, simply place the flat portion of the block on top of the guitar frets with the file off the of the fretboard. Now just run the fret bevel file down the fretboard. The block will guide the file above the frets without damaging any of them while the file will bevel the fret edges. Run the fret bevel file down the fretboard a few times and check the fret ends. Then repeat. Also, be careful not to bump into the body of the guitar while you are beveling the frets. It sounds stupid, but trust me. You can get so focused on beveling the frets that you lose track of where the file is actually going.

This guitar repair tool cannot be replaced. It would take hours to try to bevel all the frets identically. The fret bevel file will not only save you time, it will also make your fret jobs look and feel more professional. This is one tool that you can't afford not to have. If you would like more information about how to refret your guitar, please see my how to refret a guitar article.