How to Buff Sharp Edges on Guitar Frets
- 1). Inspect the edges of all of the frets on the guitar using your hand. Feel the edges to check for sharpness. After you have located each sharp fret edge, place a piece of masking or painter's tape on each side of the fret to mark it and also protect it from the file or sandpaper.
- 2). Start at the top of the guitar and work your way down so that you know which of the frets is done. Visually inspect each fret before starting as you will need to know the location of the burr that is causing the problem. It could be on the top of the fret or it could be that the fret tang is sticking out the side of the neck, each will need a different filing style to fix.
- 3). Take your file and start the process of removing the sharp edges on each fret that has been marked. Place your jeweler's file at the top of the angle and slide it downward at a 45-degree angle with moderate pressure. Lift it off of the fret and place it at the top again for another stroke. Never file upward as that can damage the file. Feel the fret after three passes to check if the burr is gone. Repeat as necessary.
- 4). File straight down if the sharp edge is on the tang, sticking out from the side of the neck. Place the file at the top of the fret perpendicular to the fret itself and file straight down. Move the file outward, place it at the top of the fret again and repeat this process. As with Step 3, never file upward as that may cause damage to the jeweler's file. Feel the tang area after about three strokes to see if you have removed the sharp edge.
- 5). Continue this process all the way down the neck until each sharp edge is removed and then inspect each fret once again before removing the tape and putting your file away. Play the guitar and listen for dead frets, which may indicate that you over-filed or filed too close to the crown of particular frets, in which case, you may have to file all the frets to the same height.
Source...