What kind of files would be used to widen/smooth out a nut slot?
Are they specific guitar tools - or just general hardware?
If specific formguitar, who makes them?
Thanks!
What kind of files would be used to widen/smooth out a nut slot?
Are they specific guitar tools - or just general hardware?
If specific formguitar, who makes them?
Thanks!
There's a whole slew of them here - LINK
And $100 or so later, you'll have a full set!
If you are cutting a nut, get nut files. If you just want to clean up a nut or widen the slots, you can (judiciously) use a set of $5 needle files from the hardware store. Another method is to use a wound string one size larger than your string, and run it back and forth like a file. This works real well for cleaning out burrs. In all cases, be careful not to rehape the bottom of the slot.
A friend in need is a good reason to screen your calls.
Telecast has the right idea. If you're only tweaking a slot or 2 try some of the tricks he mentioned.
If you're doing more than that there's nothing like the right tool for the job. I have about 8 nut files that I bought from Stew Mac over the years and I can't tell you how great it is to have the right tool handy.
If you anticipate developing an interest in working on guitars you could buy 2 or 3 files to get you through what you need to do now and buy the rest as you need them.
If you're cutting a nut, you'll definitely want to get the files you need right up front.
Nut files are the shiznit.
Thanks for the link and tips guys - much appreciated!
Would like to get rid of some burrs.
Nuts are going to be my next big thing to learn... but I'm not looking forward to the investment...
My wife asked me the other day about my guitar hobby... "When are you going to start making money at this?" All I could do was give her a blank stare.... and then I went into some "song and dance" explanation...
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When you look at things like that, nut files and what not, there is the initial investment.. but the savings that you may recoup down the road are well worth it should you branch out into things like that. A couple years back I invested in a set of nice nut files, and refret tools, and now do all my own work myself... so they have paid for themselves many times over. Plus, I got tired of dealing with people who may or may not know what they are doing.. so now I have no one to blame but myself if I mess something up. But Im up to 29 guitars in my collection, all ones that I play regularly, and I save a fortune doing refrets, set ups, fret dressings, and nuts all myself.. its well worth it should you pursue it.
I love making nuts. Of all the things I've done making nuts may come most naturally to me. Not that I'm great at it, but even cutting the first one felt very natural to me. I love the way that bone feels when I cut and sand it. It polishes up nicely to.
I've only made a few nuts, but had a blast doing so. Of course, my first came out great... the next few not so great. You gotta love the distinct smell of sanding bone :dead
I broke when when it was almost finished once.
That was not fun!
Well... I have made three nuts, technically....
Here is one of them... :lol
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I lost my set of nut files several years ago when I was transitioning from college student/part time guitar repairman (not gonna call myself a true luthier) and tried to get by doing my own minor repair work with cheaper files. They can work for some jobs, but not many. I finally replaced the lost set recently when I realized that it was going to cost me roughly $200 bucks to have all of the nut work that I needed done for my personal instruments if I took them somewhere else (how the heck did I crack three nuts on three guitars within a few months of each other?).
Investing in your own set will quickly pay off...especially if you start charging friends to do touch up jobs and replacements.
"Go Team Venture!"
Most likely that those three are your best work.;)Originally Posted by photoweborama
Well... I have made three nuts, technically....
Here is one of them... :lol
The common ones that have been around since who knows when, and still seem to be the favorite, are also known as ' joint files ', I'm fairly sure they're also known as ' screw slotting files '. But, knowing that probably won't do much good, because almost everytime I came across a non-guitar related place that sold the 'joint files', they cost the same, if not more, than the guitar repair supply places.
I only got lucky one time. In Germany, a tool shop was moving, and the guy had an insane amount of files, and he didn't want to move them all to the new store. I had the impression that long ago, the file dealer must have talked him into buying every kind of file they made, but of course you can't expect to sell every kind out of a small retail shop in an "off the beaten path" part of town.
Anyway, he had 4 .010" Grobet joint files and I only paid 1 euro for each (about $1.20 US dollars at the time). If only he would have had more of those instead of some of the other goofy files he had.(of course, I did buy around 145 of the other files)
No interest in nut making, major repair work - other than to quickly take care of burrs/nonsense that might interfere with playing.
I hate that kinda stuff in general - takes away from playing time. But doing slight maintenance like that will take less time than taking stuff to a tech.
Again, thanks a ton for the great tips/suggestions!
I'm with you guys who enjoy making nuts.
I just made this strat nut by hand from a full Martin sized bone blank because it was friday night and I didn't have any fender sized blanks.
I took him to practice last nigh and right before I started packing up I had him play a bit. They thought he was doing real well and even started to jam a bit with him...
Although it was not really work... ;)
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