How do you polish your frets?

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Im looking for best (most shine), cost effective, and easiest way.

Last year i bought some 3M micro mesh polishing pads. I think they were 20 bucks. They go from 400 grit to 8000.

Its a pretty good way to do it, but takes about 20 minutes after you get the board taped off. These pads will probably wear out after ten guitars.

I see stew mac has eraser sets. Anyone used those?
 
Gorgomyte


Does an excellent job getting frets to shine plus cleans/hydrates/conditions your fretboard all in one go. Like the way it smell's too. I've been using it for 20+ years and nothing else comes close imo..

Not sure what it costs now but not much..
 
ICTGoober, GuitarDoc and several others (ArtieToo I think) build and/or repair guitars. I've seen them post some of their tools and methods before. Perhaps either quick search or PM them?
 
If you need to polish your frets for general maintenence and just want them to feel smooth & really shine, Gorgomyte is the best /quickest/easiest way..hands down.

No taping off fretboards/pickups or gauging out chunks of fretboard w/ files etc. It's quick, easy and really works for incredible shine. Plus no need to mess around with lemon oil etc afterwards...the fretboard gets deeply/thoroughly conditioned too...all in one go. For mega-rusty/unbelievably cruddy frets....I'm not sure, I never let my frets get that bad anyway..but from dull -> shine there's nothing better I've come across (and yes the shine is extreme)
 
Phantasmagoria said:
If you need to polish your frets for general maintenence and just want them to feel smooth & really shine, Gorgomyte is the best /quickest/easiest way..hands down.

No taping off fretboards/pickups or gauging out chunks of fretboard w/ files etc. It's quick, easy and really works for incredible shine. Plus no need to mess around with lemon oil etc afterwards...the fretboard gets deeply/thoroughly conditioned too...all in one go. For mega-rusty/unbelievably cruddy frets....I'm not sure, I never let my frets get that bad anyway..but from dull -> shine there's nothing better I've come across (and yes the shine is extreme)
Click to expand...

This is for after a level n crown. Needs to be more progressive than a single polishing cloth. The micro mesh cloths work pretty well but still labor intensive.

Maybe a buffing wheel?
 
michael-keaton-mr-mom.gif
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I used to use the micro mesh pads, but man, it IS labor intensive to get a good final shine. I could only get 1-2 guitars out of a set of the micro mesh pads. The fret erasers are even worse as far as labor is concerned. I don't think they do as good a job as the micro mesh pads. But at least they'll last for a couple dozen guitars.

It's definitely NOT what many would consider "cost effective" but I now use a buffer with 4 different felt/cloth wheels with different buffing compound for each wheel. I don't tape off the fret board (again, too much work) I use a SS template that covers the entire neck (except the frets, of course). Takes less than 5 minutes to get the best shine possible. Cost of my buffer motor, tapered arbors, and wheels is roughly $800, but you could find a reasonable setup for $100-150. Even this isn't very cost effective if you're only going to polish frets on a couple guitars, though.
 
Last edited:
GuitarDoc said:
I used to use the micro mesh pads, but man, it IS labor intensive to get a good final shine. I could only get 1-2 guitars out of a set of the micro mesh pads. The fret erasers are even worse as far as labor is concerned. I don't think they do as good a job as the micro mesh pads. But at least they'll last for a couple dozen guitars.

It's definitely NOT what many would consider "cost effective" but I now use a buffer with 4 different felt/cloth wheels with different buffing compound for each wheel. I don't tape off the fret board (again, too much work) I use a SS template that covers the entire neck (except the frets, of course). Takes less than 5 minutes to get the best shine possible. Cost of my buffer motor, tapered arbors, and wheels is roughly $300, but you could find a reasonable setup for $100-150. Even this isn't very cost effective if you're only going to polish frets on a couple guitars, though.
Click to expand...

Great information. I thought that a real luthier would need a better solution than the micro mesh, because this takes a ton of effort. The template idea is a good one. I transferred my tape from one guitar to another and realized that masking the board is half the effort.

With your four buffing wheels, what compounds do you use?

If polishing the frets up to remove tarnish (not after crowning) I'm guessing would only need a single wheel.
 
I had to edit my post...my setup is $800 not $300. I have 4 buffing wheels but I usually only use 3 of them. One uses a grey compound for heavy use, the next is red rouge, the last is a very fine white compound that's also good for plastic.

You could get by with just a single wheel, but if you buy a buffer (there are many for under $100) a second wheel is only another $10.
You may just use a courser green or grey compound by itself to remove tarnish, but it won't leave a high luster. I'd get a second wheel and designate one wheel for the course and another for the red rouge. The red leaves a very good luster.
 
I use the buffing wheel on a Dremel. After leveling, I start with the fret erasers, then move to a polishing compound stick that I put on all the frets (white specifically) and I hit them with the Dremel buffing wheel. They come out nice and shiny smooth.
 
Just finished all my guitars. The one tip I can give is to do them all at the same time. Its fairly easy to transfer the tape between necks.
IMG20230903155543 (1).jpg
 
I typically use the 3M pads progressively, and a dremel polish wheel occassionally, but often I still dream about Steel Wool and the memories of cleaning up after it. Ah the days!
 
ErikH said:
I use the buffing wheel on a Dremel. After leveling, I start with the fret erasers, then move to a polishing compound stick that I put on all the frets (white specifically) and I hit them with the Dremel buffing wheel. They come out nice and shiny smooth.
Click to expand...

Same here. Exact technique depends on how bad the frets are worn and or tarnished.
 
Ascension said:
BINGO!!
Click to expand...

Do you guys do the actual refretting? Because installing ss much more work than having to polish frets every couple years.

Necks change over time and need to be releveled anyway. Im not sold on ss unless they come on the guitar.

I have one ss guitar. I just polished the other ones, they look the same now.
 
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