A good crowning file is nice, but it's instructive to have crowned a few frets by hand the traditional way, using just a triangular file.
that's how they did it back before there were crowning files... but I'm gonna have to pass on that experience. way too much work.
Yes, but you'll want a small file with safe sides to do the more fiddly work (fret corners, edges of the bevels, etc.).
admittedly, when I do fret jobs... it's on a guitar I built so it's a bit different as one can always sand out a scratch easily. that said, I've refretted a few finished guitars using diamond files, tape and an aluminum protector to keep from touching the fretboard/binding. has worked fine for me but admittedly you have to be careful and it probably takes more time that way. I could easily run a groove through a board and glue in a file... just haven't bothered.
You're not going to find an accurate straight edge for $40. A claimed accuracy of 0.0005" per inch works out to almost 0.01" over the 18-inch length required to measure a fingerboard. When you have a target relief of under .005", you can see that this level of accuracy won't get you there.
there is that much variance in the sandpaper one might use esp the lower grits. further variance introduced when you polish the frets. so my point is... I use levels so that I can run thru lower grits quickly - not sure if that came across in my post. it's really only the last passes that have to be super accurate.
45° is too much bevel. You're giving up valuable fret length.
I honestly don't even know what angle I do... because I do it by hand. probably closer to 67.5, I don't know. my only point was you don't need a special tool to do that, and you might be better off w/o one. at least that has been my experience.
They're damned handy, and you'll love the results, but you can get by without one.
like anything else... you can do almost anything with almost any tools. My first guitar builds I did almost entirely with a router and jig saw. I still use a router for 90% of what I do. Have a planer - never use it. don't even own a table saw nor a jointer.
have polished frets w/o a dremel (even tho I had one - doh!)... but once you've used a dremel you probably won't polish by hand.
100% correct. When someone tells you that fret jobs are a breeze, they're forgetting the mistakes they made when they were learning...or they've never recognized those mistakes.
fret jobs are a breeze... it's your first few fret jobs that aren't. that said, I wouldn't do one for $300. Once you've done a few your whole perspective on what folks charge for them changes.
Remember: You can't replace metal that you've already filed off.
Proceed with care. But know that you can learn how to do this.
true, but fretwire is like $20 and if you mess up... just another opportunity to learn something... as long as you aren't working on a vintage strat.