Seeking advice for removing scratches from newly levelled & crowned fret tops

Lesorphee

I’m curious how people approach getting the scratches out of the very tops of frets, after crowning and levelling.

After getting to the “very thin line of sharpie remaining” part of the crowning process, using a Z file, I then use micro mesh pad-sticks, 400, 800, 1000, 2000 in sequence on the sides, to get rid of those scratches/file marks, and to bring back the curves. Those work great.

On to the tops, there are sanding scratches from the levelling process that remain under the sharpie line.

How do you tend to deal with these, without undoing the levelling process by taking too much off?

I’m using 320 grit on the levelling beam, I wondered about doing a final pass with a much higher grit before moving on to crowning. 

They’re not massive scratches, but it’s enough to feel a graze when you bend a string, but I’d really like to bring the tops back to the same smoothness of the sides.

SteveRobinson

You have to remove the scratches at each stage with an abrasive coarse enough for the job.

I use a strip on P800 grit "wet or dry" paper on a fingertip rubbed along the length of the fret until the scratches are gone, before moving on to micromesh. 

Just sanding out the scratches won't remove a significant amount o height from the frets.

ICBM

You need to sand along the frets, not along the neck. Then finish with metal polish of some sort. (Mask the fingerboard.)

WezV

I've always gone along the neck. 

800g wet and dry, then micromesh through the grits from 1500 to 12000g using one of the hard foam micromesh sanding blocks.  I then use a fine buffing compound to finish them off

 It can be a problem going along the neck if you skip grits or don't go high enough, it will feel gritty when bending