Forget about the steady hand, and if using a drill press, the guitar neck would have to be moved to cut the fret out. These wheels, only .015" thick, flex quite a bit and will seek out the softer wood on either side before cutting the fret.wim wrote:I'm not kidding. With something like this;
http://www.riogrande.com/MemberArea/Pro ... off+Wheels
in combination with this ;
http://www.riogrande.com/MemberArea/Pro ... 68=Diamond
and some patience and a steady hand or a drill press, you could remove the metal without having to remove the bindings.
I was thinking of using a drill bit bigger than .025, of course, but neglected to capture this detail. When steaming a neck joint, I typically drill a .060" (1/16") diameter hole, centered on a fret slot, at the neck joint (12th or 14th fret). Even a very slim vintage Rick fret measures about .082"-.084" in width, so the fret will cover the hole.
Center-punch each fret tang, drill through the tang with a .060" drill, insert dental hook and p-u-l-l. I am certain this will work, but be ginger about it so as not to pull up bits of fretboard. No yanking allowed.