Fret leveling

[rb75man]

If I want to level frets, do I need to take the relief out of the neck then level frets?

[sunburst]

Usually.

[Br1ck]

Start with as flat as you can get the neck. I find often the string tension causes enough relief.

[Steve Sorensen]

Based upon this question and your previous truss rod nut question, the best advice you could hear right now is --

"Take your mandolin to an experienced luthier for a good set-up."

Steve

[rb75man]

I can do it, I replaced all the frets on my banjo several years ago and it still playing fine. I've just not done a lot of frets other than that. I think I did a pretty good repair on the inlay dots on this fretboard that somebody had gouged out, the mandolin was damaged when I bought and it didn't have a bridge so I ordered a Cumberland bridge and a jig and shaped it to the top of the mandolin, now I want to level the frets and then make sure the slots are good in the bridge and nut because it's not staying in tune at all. Here's a before and after of the inlay I fixed yesterday.

[sunburst]

I was intentionally vague in my first post.
In an ideal word, where neck wood flexes a predictable amount over it's entire length under string, where the neck joint and extension of the fingerboard behave exactly as the neck under string tension, where everything else is predictable and easily adjustable, yes, mill the frets with the neck straight and let string tension (and adjustments) supply the optimal fingerboard relief.
Unfortunately, it's not an ideal world, and good playing, even frets can be an allusive goal. Unlike banjos, neck heels and neck joints usually need to be considered, unforeseen things come up, fret work can present new challenges to even experienced luthiers, and problems often need to be solved.

[Br1ck]

John's observations are so true. A beginner has to accept the fact that things can go wrong. When I bought my MK, I bought it with the acceptance I could turn it into firewood. I was flying blind when it came to mandolins. I leveled the frets three times because I was so conservative, and I could not accept that a factory could turn out a mandolin with that much hump over the neck joint. But in the end after I cut a new nut and spent way too many hours fitting the bridge, I have a very playable mandolin. The experience gave me the confidence to put my Arches together.

The second time around is far easier than the first for sure, and like most everything else, proper tools are essential. If you just need one mandolin fixed, it's just not worth the tool expense.

[Folkmusician.com]

I must be up there in the top handfuls when it comes to people that have leveled the most frets in their lifetime. Multiple instruments per day, almost everyday for two decades...

Even now, it is rarely a consistant process. Every single time there is something just slightly different.

First get the truss rod adjusted where you want it under tension.
Look at the neck and see what it is doing. Grab it and apply some light preasure to see how and where it bends. Now you can get a good idea whether you can simply level the entire board or you need to do some spot leveling.

Make sure the frets are seated well before doing any leveling. Hammer what you can before filing.

[HoGo]

I must be up there in the top handfuls when it comes to people that have leveled the most frets in their lifetime. Multiple instruments per day, almost everyday for two decades...

Even now, it is rarely a consistant process. Every single time there is something just slightly different.

First get the truss rod adjusted where you want it under tension.
Look at the neck and see what it is doing. Grab it and apply some light preasure to see how and where it bends. Now you can get a good idea whether you can simply level the entire board or you need to do some spot leveling.

Make sure the frets are seated well before doing any leveling. Hammer what you can before filing.

AMEN. Especially to the last sentence.
I would add two things - check for any loose frets - they may sit nicely in the slots and be hidden to eye but tapping or scratching against fret end may revele those bad boys, I've had some of these go unnoticed only to see that they lifted during filing and I removed more material off the loose fret end.
Also I check for neck relief before I remove strings and after to see how much the neck flexes when strung up to pitch. So you can dial the final relief more precisely (especially on long slim necks without truss rods)

[V70416]

Not naming names but some repairpersons/luthiers figure that leveling is enough,leaving out the crowning and polishing that makes
frets feel and play so nicely.

I get it. Leveling seems fairly easy compared to crowning and polishing all those frets. Still,I feel the job is incomplete when just the
leveling is done. Not a fast job;more like half-fast.

[gtani7]

I always leave banjos and mandolins to the pros, too complicated but I think you would benefit by reading Erlewine's Guitar repair book which has 40 pages on fretwork, so that tell you it's pretty nontrivial on guitars, which i think are easier than mandos.

Also google "fret level jigs" for s.t. like https://www.talkbass.com/threads/diy...g-jig.1328965/

[Br1ck]

There are many videos on fret leveling and many different approaches. But you need a machinest's straightedge, a sanding beam or flat file, a fret file and four or five sandpaper grits to 2000, and a set of nut files and a set of feeler gauges. I'll bet you are pushing $200 or more, probably $250.

So you have to want to enjoy the process and accept that you are not going to do as well as a pro. So getting into this has much to do with natural inclination and desire. Had I not had this I would never have attempted a build, and even then, I practiced on cheaper instruments. I had done six or eight fret levels, refretted a guitar, bound the top and back of a guitar along with cutting the chennels, and done some crack repair, all before starting my kit.

If you like older used instruments, and like the hands on experience, buying fret tools is a very good thing and learning to use them will prove cost effective. But I have taken my work to someone who knew what they were doing, and they were alway able with minor tweaks to improve my action. But that is also part of the learning experience.