A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

I bought this Kaish Baroque Fret Crowning file last year, to attempt my first fret crowning project—I finally plucked up enough courage to try it a couple of nights ago.
It seemed to be working fine, but when I got less than halfway up the neck, cleaning file with a rag after every couple of frets, I noticed some dark patches in the file—on closer inspection, chunks of the grit had come off! Also it started taking off all the marker in one or two swipes, instead of leaving the thin center line as earlier.
lineLooking at some of the other reviews on Amazon, I see I'm not the only one by far to have this happen …

I was able to finish the job by working further along the shaft, but I doubt this tool will be any good after another project …
Very disappointed, would not recommend. $27 down the drain
Does anyone have any experience with the Fret Guru "Dagger 2.0"?

The two white patches above the grit are reflections from my track lights, but they neatly delineate the problem—left-hand end you can see the dark patches where the grit wore off, right-hand side in good shape.
A common complaint with this tool is that it files the top of the fret flat instead of crowning—the first few frets were okay, but then that's what it did

Too much rubbish on Amazon, I gave up with their stuff and bought quality from a professional provider (Crimson Guitars)

Philadelphia Luthiers carries the Hosco Japan brand.
I have done several level / crown jobs with mine.
It works well and does not show any wear.


https://www.philadelphialuthiertools.co ... le-medium/
They have sets of 2 or 3 of these, and others as well.

Looks like they just hit a piece of stainless with an electrode. Way too soft for the purpose I think. Should be a piece of tool steel if you want a file that will last.

I had a Stew Mac account last year and felt I needed to justify it by buying a bunch of tools. End up with a Gurian crowning setup. Seemed like a nice blend of price vs. performance.

I now have pretty much everything I should need to do a fret job including crowning, leveling, ect.

I've sworn off all luthier tools and guitar parts from the likes of Kaish, Musiclily, TomTop, etc... Their metallurgy is crap, and always a recipe for disaster and disappointment. I don't even buy screws that are made in China anymore. I've had too many break under light to moderate torque halfway through insertion or removal, nearly ruining more than a couple of projects, and always causing a major hassle.

I've had good luck with Stewmac Z-file, original shape. I cant believe how expensive they are right now. Maybe due to covid production rates ?
I dont remember paying that much. (108$). It sure is worth it, getting comfortable with the fret level/crowning process, being able to do all your guitars in the future.

Stewmac is overpriced for everything. Hosco are great, and Hiroshima should make them also.

You can say that StewMac are over-priced (and they are), but specialized tools for a niche market are usually over-priced due to lack of sales volume. I don't really resent their prices as much as their insane shipping rates, and they charge shipping for each individual item, even though it all ships in the same box.

I second Philadelphia Luther and also feel StewMac is to high on most stuff but no mater where you buy it a good file is not cheap.

So, has anyone out there used this one?

https://www.amazon.com/FretGuru-Crownin ... B08P81H8Q2

I have not used one but I can vouch for these.
https://www.philadelphialuthiertools.co ... t-2-files/

jtcnj wrote: ↑Thu Jan 21, 2021 4:28 pm Philadelphia Luthiers carries the Hosco Japan brand.
I have done several level / crown jobs with mine.
It works well and does not show any wear.


https://www.philadelphialuthiertools.co ... le-medium/
They have sets of 2 or 3 of these, and others as well.


image.png

I second this. Bought the same thing from them and am real happy with it

You know, this is just like the adverts where the company is selling acetylene torch tip cleaners for nut files. You can buy barf and struggle with it or pay the man and have a tool that you'll use the rest of your life or be able to resell on when you're done with guitars. I have a set of real nut files, Hiroshima from PLS. They work fast and accurate. Cheap? No. Work? Yes! Not spending all day with some tip cleaners trying to cut a nut. I have better things to do.

And, with StewMac, you pay the price but it's a solid tool. I hear StewMac is overpriced but you never hear a tool from them doesn't work. That's because luthiers make their living with those tools so they can't be garbage.