Fretting, a fundamental error?

I have just finished adding the frets to my newly constructed uke and I'm wondering if I've made a mistake.

I can't seem to file the tang back without taking out some of the fretboard accidentally.

Should I have trimmed the tang back first and if so is it too late to remove the frets and remedy the situation?

E.E.

You need a file that has no teeth on one side, like this one, to avoid filing the fretboard edges.

I think perhaps, that my neck is not sufficiently angled away from the fretboard as well. If i file perpendicular to the fretboard esge, I can't hep but hit the neck.

Oh well, thanks for your help.

E.E.

eepunk - I am having a difficult time trying to understand the problem. It would help a lot if you had a few pictures of it.

eepunk said:

I think perhaps, that my neck is not sufficiently angled away from the fretboard as well. If i file perpendicular to the fretboard esge, I can't hep but hit the neck.

Oh well, thanks for your help.

E.E.

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Is your fretboard as wide as your neck? It almost sounds as if it's narrower in which case I can understand your problem.

fahrner said:

Is your fretboard as wide as your neck? It almost sounds as if it's narrower in which case I can understand your problem.

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The fretboard and neck are identical in width but the angle at which the neck sides slope away under the fretboard(its quite a thick neck) is not steep at all. Perhaps this picture would help explain. Its an early one without the fretboard actually attached but you can see the neck angle.


and also


In any case, can I remove the fret wire without buggering my chances of replacing it with fret wire that has been trimmed to size and the tang at each fret end filed away completely for a few millimetres? Is that even a good idea?

In any case I believe I'll take on the advice of one of the blokes from handmademusic and create a guard to cover the neck and figerboard from an aluminium can. With only the fret end exposed it should minimise the damage. Nothing ventured...

E.E.

I've had good luck simply by applying a layer of Scotch tape. I file the frets until the tape starts to shred then I stop, reapplying tape and refiling as necessary.

Thanks for the suggestion Dave.

I ended up using the can technique. Just drilled a 1mm hole in the aluminium and wrapped it over the edge. Worked a treat.

E.E.