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Two files, four cutting surfaces
Nut and Saddle Shaping Files
Tested and refined in our own shops, this pair of specialty files is ideal for roughing-in and fine-shaping the delicate contours of string nuts and acoustic bridge saddles. Using the files in combination, you can quickly refine a rough-cut nut to a smooth shape, ready for final polishing. The narrow cutting width makes it easier to round the top of a nut or bridge saddle more smoothly and accurately.
See details below
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Making a Nut, Step-by-Step
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Updated 02/04
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Dan Erlewine, of Stewart-MacDonald’s R&D Team, walks you through
one of the key skills in any repair shop.
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By tapping the side of the old nut, you can dislodge it. Before you do,
use a sharp blade to score a line on the finish around the nut. This way,
the nut will break out of the finish on your scored lines, and chipping
the finish will be kept to a minimum.
Nuts tap out easily on old guitars, but not on new heavily-finished ones;
sometimes you’ll need to saw through the nut to get it out. To do this,
cut it lengthwise (across the string slots), stopping when you’re almost
down to the bottom. Now you can collapse the nut inward on itself and remove
the pieces.
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Clean the nut slot
Scrape out old glue residue, and make the slot square and clean without
removing wood. (Good tools for this are Micro Chisels and Nut Seating Files.)
Many Martin guitar nuts have an angled bottom rather than a square one;
we have an Angled Nut Seating File for retaining that angle.
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Choose your nut material
We like Bone Nut Blanks for most situations, except when used with a
tremolo. Tremolos work well with slippery nut materials like Slip-Stone
and Graph Tech.
Carefully square up the blank to fit the nut slot by using sandpaper on
a flat surface (use double-stick tape or self-adhesive sandpaper). Start
with 120-150 grit, and work your way through 220 and 320-grit. Calipers
are a big help in accurately sizing the nut.
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Roughly shape the
nut
The top of the nut will be shaped to follow the radius of the fretboard.
As a starting point, place the blank in the slot and trace the shape of
the fretboard onto it. To determine the height of the nut, add the height
of the frets to this traced line, then add an additional .030" for
string clearance (the space from the bottom of the strings to the top of
the first fret). This will give you a good starting point; later you’ll
fine-tune string heights, bringing them down just a little. A Radius Gauge
is a good template for drawing this curved line for top of the nut.
File the nut to the shape you’ve drawn. Don’t try to final-shape
it yet — at this point, you want to leave yourself enough material
to work with when you’re fine-shaping later.
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Lay out the spacing
Determine the spacing you want between the outside E-strings. A good
measurement is .050", or about 1/16", in from the top of the beveled
ends of the first fret. Looking straight down on the top of the nut, use
the String Spacing Rule to find the proper spacing for the remaining four
strings. Use a scribe or very sharp pencil to mark their locations.
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Cut starter slots
Now you’re ready to cut small “starter” slots. Be careful
not to cut too deep. The .008" Gauged Saw is excellent for starting
slots, and so is the Diamond Nut File. The Gauged Saws are best at “moving”
the slots from side-to-side if they stray from your marks, but they do lower
the slots fast. (Besides, you shouldn’t rush this!)
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Remove the nut to
protect the guitar
To avoid marring the guitar, consider shaping the slots with the nut
blank held in the Nut and Saddle Vise. File down the excess nut material
from the top as the slots get deeper, so there’s room for your file
to cut. Frequently check the slot locations with the nut spacing rule, and
move the slots from side to side if needed. When the slots are well defined,
but not to final depth, put the nut back in the slot and string up.
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Final slot height
Take the slots to their final height with all the strings on and tuned
to pitch. Double-edge Nut Files are good for this job.
As you get close, use stacked feeler gauges as an accurate way to stop at
the string height you’re after. (Our frets in this example are .040”
tall, so when we add .030" for string clearance we get a slot height
of .070”.) Stack the feeler gauges to this combined measurement, and
file the slots until the file just nicks the feeler gauges.
Now you’ve got a good general string height, and you’re ready
to fine-tune it if you like: leaving the heavier strings a bit high, while
the treble strings get lowered, following the radius of the fretboard. Many
pro players prefer to set the low-E string clearance to about .020”,
and the treble E-string at .010” (give or take a few thousandths).
The strings between are at graduated heights following the fretboard radius.
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Mark the final size
Mark all around the overhanging nut edges with a scribe or knife, then
put it back in the vise to trim off the excess nut material. Work carefully
up to your scribed lines with the smooth side of the Nut Shaping File. Take
your time — it’s easy to “blow a nut” at this stage!
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Final shaping
Final-sand and contour the nut's shape using ever-finer sandpaper (220,
320, 400, and all the way up to 1200 if you wish). Follow this fine-sanding
by polishing with a soft rag and rubbing compound.
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String it up!
String the guitar to pitch, and final-check the string heights and nut
shape. If you’re happy, loosen the strings and glue the nut in lightly
with 2 or 3 small drops of Titebond glue. Replace the strings quickly, tune
back to pitch, and slide the nut from side-to-side to align it while the
glue is wet and slippery. Leave the strings on, to provide clamping pressure.
After the glue dries for an hour, you‘re ready to play.
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Gauged Saws
Micro Chisels
Nut Seating Files
3M Gold Fre-Cut Sandpaper
Luthier's Digital Caliper
Nut and Saddle Shaping Files
String Spacing Rule
Inlay Tracing Scribe
Nut and Saddle Vise
Double-edge Nut Files
Feeler Gauges
String Action Gauge
ColorTone Polishing Compounds
Franklin Titebond Glue
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Shown on page 20 of our latest catalog.
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Details
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