Dremel Routing Fret Slots

I have always done the old pick, saw, and/or knife cleaning. I am considering checking out the dremel method with the 1/32" bit. I have dremels, a foredom, and a router base. From what I gather reading stuff on the web it seems rather straight forward. Looking for finer points on using this method or any helpful info is much appreciated. My Les Paul needs frets and seems like the perfect candidate.

Thanks. Tom.

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    Frank SIlano

    2021 thread resurrection, none of the old links work anymore. Does anyone have an online source to get the proper end mills please? Thank you.

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    Frank SIlano

    So I got the .020" end mills in today and did my first fret job with them right way. Straight up this is going to work for me and save me a lot of time prepping re-frets so thank you all for that. I can see that you have to watch depth carefully and that the depth of the cutter is very important. I did some test slots and got the cutter just a tad too deep and because of the tapered shape of the cutter it opened up the top of the slot wider than I wanted but it was still workable. Once you get it dialed in it is cake. Also I experienced no wandering of the bit and the slots were super clean and precise. I highly recommend this if you do a lot of refrets like I do. Good stuff! :)

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      Walter W Wright

      so i got myself a .022" micro end mill and used it on a late '60s LP custom today and yeah, this method is a winner!

      to answer my own question about the bit wandering off into virgin wood, i used it in the little stewmac precision router base with a foredom rather than a dremel (only 18k RPM max but way more torque compared to a dremel) and i found the trick to be that as long as you're pulling the bit along the slot you're golden, it won't wander. it's only if you stop moving the router base but keep the bit running that it wants to eat into the surrounding wood.

      @Mark A. Kane's video showed him using the .022" bit to get a .021" slot in a maple board, but i found that in the old ebony of this LP custom the .022" bit got me a .022" slot and a slightly loose .022" at that. might be my newbie technique with the tool but i think i might try a .021" bit next time  

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