Fretwork before or after oiling/finishing?

[slowlearner]

Sorry, I know this sounds like a re-run of the other qu, but I'm wondering when is the best time to do fret leveling/recrowning/polishing. Interested in any thoughts about this. Do you do your fretwork before or after finishing? Be interested to know why to. Thx.

[Tod Gilding]

It wouldn't matter Pete ,but I would not think fret levelling crowning etc would be required if your fingerboard was flat to start with and fret slot/kerf were accurate

[Trevor Gore]

I fret the board before gluing it on, then dress the fret ends. The whole idea of this is that you can press the frets in so accurately that there's no need for any further work on the frets. So all fretwork is complete before the fretboard is glued down and well before finishing. Mostly.

I've had a couple of guitars that have gone "lumpy" 6-12 months down the track, i.e. a few high frets. I've put this down to humidity changes jacking the frets out (even though they're glued in). If anyone has any better ideas or ways to prevent, would love to hear.

[Lutherie Gervais]

My sequence is

make all the parts, then assemble them.
so I finish up with a complet neck with fretboard on and the box fully binded and dovetail opening done.
assemble those togheter, then I jump on preperation for finishing the whole instrument (pore filling etc).
At this point if I'm using maple I will fret (because I shoot over my fretboard)
If not, I juste make sure my fretboard is trully level and with the right radius and relief.
This is the important fact, because I assure the high projection I will have at my saddle. Meaning I get acurate bridge height
Mask the fretboard and bridge area, shoot my finish.

then I Fret, buff, glue bridge and set-up (oil fretboard, polish nut/saddle, you know what I mean)

My reason are, I had hard time peeling masking tape over the fretboard with the fret in. It's common that finish peel off a little and chip along the side.