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Fender Strat: Refreting a Maple Fretboard without Disturbing the Finish

1. This Fender Strat has low, worn frets and the neck isn't quite straight anymore.  A refret is in order.  The catch is, this guitar has a finished maple fretboard. Since the neck is only modestly distorted, I'll remove the frets and install new taller ones made from stainless steel without attempting to sand the fretboard straight. This will allow me to leave this fretboard's original finish undisturbed.	2. Scoring the Finish around the frets will prevent the finish from chipping as I remove the olds frets.  The razor blade is cutting into the frets, not the maple.
3. Removing the Old Frets with modified end-nippers and a soldering gun.  The inside bevel of the end-nippers pushes the fret up as the outer jaw surfaces press down on the surrounding finished maple.  This, combined with the heat of the soldering gun allows me to safely extract the frets with no chipping of the maple.  Tightening the truss rod before fret extraction also helps to reduce chipping.	4. Lightly Sanding the Finish with 2000 grit sandpaper will flatten the little plateaus of finish that beaded up along the frets.  This ensures that the new, wider frets the customer wants installed will properly seat on the finish.
5. Beveling the Fret Slots will prevent chipping of the maple when the new frets are tapped in.  This will also make it easier for a repair person in the future to safely extract the frets.	6. Pre-Bending the Fretwire to a slightly tighter radius than the fret- board makes it easier to tap in the new frets and properly seat them.
7. Pre-Cutting the Fretwire will allow me to begin the necessary preparation of the fret-ends that will allow me to refret this guitar without damaging the finish on the sides of the neck and fretboard.	8. Fret-Tang Nippers are designed to remove the tang at the fret ends during a bound fretboard refret.  I'll use them here to reduce the amount of surface I'll have to shape once the frets are installed on the guitar.
9. The Fret-Tang Flush Grinding Jig cleans up the small amount of the stainless steel fret-tang left behind by the fret-tang nippers.	10. Checking the Frets Next, I'll remove the majority of the excess fret ends.
11. Grinding the Fret-Ends before they are installed will drastically reduce the amount of surface area to be shaped later.  The radiused guide block and the disc sander bed angled at -4 degrees allow me to grind the bottom of the crown flush with the edge of the fretboard.	12. A Pre-Shaped Fret ready for installation.  I'll pre-shape all of the frets before I begin tapping them in.
13. Tapping Frets In goes a lot smoother and faster when you engage the help of a couple of sandbags. After all of the frets are installed, I'll glue them down with super glue.  This both enhances the tone and ensures that they won't work loose should the neck become severely dried out and shrink.  A little acetone on a paper- towel does a nice job of cleaning up the excess glue without damaging the finish.	14. Sanding the Fret-Ends at approximately a 35 degree angle. I'll go slowly and stop as I just begin to hit the finish with the sand paper.  Any low spots in the side of the fretboard can be cleaned up with the short sanding bar.  I'm using 300 grit self adhesive sandpaper with the bar.  I'll go back with 1000 and 2000 grit sandpaper on the short bar to clean things up.
15. Leveling the Frets is quick and accurate with a long sanding bar with 300 grit sandpaper and the Erlewine Neck Jig.  This jig sold by Stew Mac does a great job of simu- lating string tension for more accurate fretwork.	16. Spot Crowning the Frets.
17. Dressing the Fret Ends with the 300 grit crowning file gives the fret ends a great look and feel.	18. Polishing the Frets with 2000 grit sandpaper gets rid of the 300 grit paper and file marks.  I'll follow up with a quick machine buff to bring the finished maple fretboard and stainless steel to a nice shine.
19. All Done.  With a set-up, new bone nut and stainless steel frets this guitar is up and running again. Thanks to the pre-installation fret preparation this guitar's original finish is looking great too.