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Any surface coating or treatments you apply to frets is going to be moot once you level and dress them.

Also I don't recommend using stainless steel strings on an acoustic guitar, because I've noticed that they exert a LOT more tension than regular electric guitar strings... I know this because I've had to do a complete setup to go from regular to stainless steel electric strings, also I doubt they make acoustic stainless steel strings. The tremolo needed much more tightening to even out on SS strings, I ditched it because I didn't really like the feel of those strings...

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Diamond files do a cleaner job and don't leave chatter marks.
which files are you using Mario ? I tried smooth 2nd cut mill and bastard also fine and med pillars. The diamond files seem to cut to a finer finish with less work.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I'm an "EVO convert", and install it on all new instruments and refrets, unless the customer (stubbronly...) insists on more traditional wire. I wish it came in more sizes, too. I find it very easy to work, and it polishes better than German silver. I have never used SS, but I'v seen Paul Hostetter, who probably does more refrets than most here, after trying both over a period of several years, claim that EVO wears better than SS. According to some, the theory is that EVO will work harden with use, possibly due to the copper content. I do know that it wears a lot better than German silver, anyways. It feels especially nice on electrics, where you bend the strings a lot, and the smooth surface helps accommodate this.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Stainless is really the way to go for wear, and refrets are a lot less intimidating when you've done a couple. I (re)fretted my first build three times before I was happy, and the process hasn't bothered me since!

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

You will want to let the customer know this in advanced... because some might be put off by the gold color as it would be a mismatch.

The only thing with SS fretwire is that it does increase wear on tools, especially cutters, therefore I charge almost double to refret with SS fretwires.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Of course I show them how it looks before I do anything, but once installed and behind the strings, I don't think it looks that "unusual". YMMV.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

How much do you charge compared to a luthier who uses normal fretwire for this? I might consider doing this too...

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

+1 to evo. I've only used them once, but no more difficult to work with than regular nickel silver. I have a coil of stainless fretwire that I had planned on switching to, but have been to chicken to try it on an actual guitar yet because it's just so darn springy. It will be tough to get the frets bent to match the curve of the fingerboard precisely before going in. Normally I like them just a bit tighter radius than the board, to be sure the ends stay down, but when I did a test of that with the stainless wire, the center wouldn't stay down at all.

I buy all my fret wire in 100' coils from LMI, and the cost difference between EVO and the rest is negligible. And like I said, EVO is as easy, if not easier to install, as German silver wire, so I price them the same.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

So can you use a sanding beam with 80 grit paper on it to level SS frets? Or will these frets not take to sand paper at all?

I crown my frets with a modified triangular file, and they will cut SS frets just fine... the bigger concern is those special "fret files" sold at luthier supply houses, since they're more expensive using a diamond fret file would make more sense because they last longer than standard fret files when dealing with SS frets.

But since a modified triangular file is so cheap, if they wear out I just buy another one.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Been using SS wire for 3 years and will never look back. If you get your FB perfectly flat BEFORE installing the frets there won't be a need for much if any leveling. They are consistent and continue to look great long after the initial polishing. Neither I nor any clients have ever commented on tone issues with SS frets. Fret dressing is a thing of the past with SS frets...as I believe replacement will be also.

I use a Dremel cutoff wheel to cut to size because using the standard nippers require too much hand force for me. Standard fret dressing files work just fine. Try it...I'll bet you'll never go back!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Can I try?

Martensitic stainless steels harden by heating and quenching much like conventional high carbon steels. (Pocket knife blades, and most kitchen knives are made of martensitic stainless steel). If it's a cutting tool, and it's stainless, and a magnet sticks to it, then it's martensitic stainless steel.

Cryogenic treatment (cooling to very low temperatures after quenching to room temp, and before tempering), can increase the hardness and or toughness of any high carbon steel (including martensitic stainless steels).

Almost any metal can be hardened by work hardening. Lead can be work hardened. Steel can be work hardened. All of the alloys that are used for fret wire can be work hardened--including stainless steel. Any process that causes plastic deformation, will cause work hardening. (Plastic deformation is anything that permanently changes the dimensions or shape of the piece--bending, or stretching, or drawing it enough that it can't spring back to its original shape.) So repeated bending of any fret wire certainly increases its hardness. Burnishing with a hard tool will increase hardness if the burnishing is forceful enough to cause plastic deformation of the fret surface.

Only a few metals can be hardened by heat treating. As Murray notes, the same process that hardens tool steel will soften most metals, including copper alloys such as brass, bronze, and "Nickel Silver" (which is mostly copper, and contains no silver).

All fret wire can be work hardened. It is work hardened in its manufacturing process, and it can be further work hardened by the luthier who installs it. Still, there are limits. Nickel silver will never be as hard as stainless steel. Not even close.

Stainless fret wire will never be as hard as steel guitar strings. Music wire (guitar strings, piano strings, violin strings, banjo strings) is a a high carbon steel that has been heat hardened, and work hardened. It's not as hard as cutting tools, but it's much harder than stainless steel frets. Apparently, stainless frets are hard enough to last a long time with much less wear than conventional nickel silver wire.

I mostly work on classical guitars. Fret wear usually isn't a problem. I have one customer who wears out the frets on his nylon string guitar in less than a year. His work embeds his hands with a mixture of grease, dirt, and abrasive dust. He likes to be able to pick up the guitar, and play a little whenever he has a free moment. He quickly wears deep divots in the frets and fingerboard. Nice guy, though, and a steady customer. I'll try stainless on his next refret.

Related question, please: Are there any special tricks to polishing these harder fret wires? I don't have a power buffer.
Thanks,
Patrick

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_su ... heels.html

There ya go. There's no reason for not owning a Dremel or similar tool, and the above polishing wheels do a great job on SS. I go from 600 grit(ANSI; not P600.._) to the "ultra fine" wheel.

Shiniest, smoothest frets you ever saw... In 2 minutes or less.

thanks to all for the ongoing feedback to my post on fret hardness. To clarify, I was looking for what I could do to the 18% wire as it sits in the guitar after my next dressing. I do have a dremel and will now look at different wheels and polishing compounds. As a player I've only worked on my own instruments and it never occurred to me that burnishing, polishing could be more than cosmetic. I usually just finish off with a fine sanding stick and steel wool and am in a hurry to get back to playing. Whenever I get to my next build I will try harder wire for sure. stringbender

And thanks for the answer to my related question, too. I know it's hard to believe, but I didn't know all those Dremel polishing wheels were so easily available. My bad. Soon to be corrected!
Patrick