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I was wondering if anyone knows of an alternative to the high priced nut file sets that are found at the different supply houses?
Maybe there is an alternative to nut files in general?
Thanks in advance for the help.
Mark

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Mark Ewing
Columbus Ohio
"Trees are an important and precious thing. We should build good things with them. Building good guitars with heart are the best use for them." K. Yairi.

An old tip in GAL's Wood and Steel String Guitars suggest using the string as a saw to cut the slots. Do this with the nut off the guitar.

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Another suggestion from the same GAL publication suggests using a set of Swiss Pattern files. A set of these can be bought from Amazon for less than $20.00.
On my previous post, start the cuts with a razor saw before using the strings.

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Warmoth.com sells a three piece (double cut) set for a bit less. nice files.

Well the cheapest way is to rough cut with a gauged saw and use torch tip files to do the finishing you get round bottom slots and the saw is less then $10 from stew mac and the files can be gotten from any welding store I got mine for under $6 they are not as nice or sturdy as nut files but unless you build alot they should do.

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Zac

Anchorage Alaska

Finshed my 1st! See #1 here

My friend Dan Earlywine shows in the video that comes with the Stew-Mac dread kit that one can use a razor saw and cut nut slots. Now mind you what Dan is capable of doing and what the rest of us are capable of doing is another matter.....

I tried this in combination with using the respective wound strings as files/floss as Rich mentioned and good results can be had but it took me several nuts to do it. But it is MUCH more difficult to be precise, get a nice rounded bottom to the slot, AND not cut to deep. In addition one of the goals when cutting the nut slots is to have them angle back at approx. half of the set-back angle for a typical acoustic, non-slothead guitar. The set-back is 15 degrees so you want your nut slots to be 7-9 degrees with the most important thing being the the leading edge of the nut slot is the highest point. You also want the leading edge of the nut slot to meet the nut face sharply and cleanly for proper intonation. Using a string as floss tends to lower the leading edge of the nut slot if the builder is not very careful.

I agree that nut slotting files are really a must-have and I could not imagine building without them.

Yup. And the full set goes for $64, which is the best price I've seen.

When was the last time you kicked yourself for buying a good tool?

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https://soundcloud.com/jeffreylsuits/he ... -runnin-13

Unfortunately these full sets are hit and miss - depending on the sizes you need for your strings.

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

I've been using the 'Norman nut files' sold on eBay. They're obviously feeler guages with teeth cut into them, but the seller has sourced the right sizes, with rounded edges, and cut the teeth neatly and carefully. They work very well, and I'm very happy with mine.

They were a good deal less than any other nut files I've found, at least once shipped to the UK.

I'd bite the bullet and get the double sided set from Stew Mac. If you keep doing this you'll probably get them anyway. The first four (.012-.060) should be fine. It's a very important step in playability and you might as well start off with good stuff. Pencil a line on the nut with the flattened pencil to mark the height of the first fret and sand the top radius of the nut to about a 32nd or so above so you don't have to cut so deep. Another neat thing they have is the nut and saddle vise (1816). I use that all the time for various aspects of nut and saddle making. It's a great gadget.
Terry

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Agree on the set from Stew Mac. You really don't want to be skimping when it comes to tools for final set up. If you do, your next posts will be "Why do my strings buzz?"

I know it seems like a lot of cash to lay out for a few files, but getting these slots right on is so important. Using a razor saw or other methods can work if you know what you really need to accomplish and if you have the light touch to go with it. And that comes with experience.

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John Ressler

How many nuts have you cut with them?

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https://soundcloud.com/jeffreylsuits/he ... -runnin-13

Unlike many here I'm not a professional luthier, so I'm always on the lookout for less expensive options to specialty tools. I tried some of the alternative methods for cutting nut slots described above, but was unable to achieve satisfactory results. I ended up going with the Warmoth set and, for me, it was money well spent. I see no reason why they wouldn't last me forever and, if one day I decide to stop tinkering with guitars, I expect I could sell them at a negligible loss in less than an hour.

George :-)

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George :-)

Cumpliano uses a single file, like a grommet file or something. I have seen these at LMI for about $26, they are tear-dropped shape and go from small to large diameter.

Anyone do this cumpliano style? Although for the extra $50.00, it may just be worth the investment, but what about classical strings, vs steel strings?

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Honestly, it's also about learning to use the tools. A slight roll while filing can get you that slightly larger slot you need; the Warmoth set is high quality, japanese made stuff (same as the allied lutherie set, near as I can tell) and they cut very nicely. Also have a (cheap) set of guaged saws from a german supplier (Rockinger) which is nice for roughing things out.

Probably half a dozen. I see no sign that they're losing their edge, and I doubt I'll blunt them anytime soon, given the rate I build at...

Needless to say, if I were doing this proffesionally I'd drop the cash for a set of specialised files, but these do the job very nicely.

Hi folks -

I'm new to the board, but thought this would be about as good a time to jump in as any. I bought the StewMac double-edged files, a few years ago, and wasn't really happy with them. The ones I got don't cut a rounded bottom slot. I started using torch tip cleaners, and found it really difficult not getting arched slot bottoms, also - until one day I was cutting some MOP inlays for one instrument, and getting ready to cut nut slots for another. I took a breather from sawing inlay, and was looking across the bench at the nuts I had prepared, when a light bulb flashed over my head. I nipped the torch cleaners out of the little case they come in, and cut off the curled bit at the one end, racked them into my jeweler's saw frame, and have been using them ever since. I cut the slots to depth with a razor saw, then follow the cut down with my handy-dandy slot saw. I've done five mandolin nuts with the same set of torch cleaners, so they seem to hold up really well. At less than five-dollars a set, I can buy a lot of sets for way less than I paid for the SM files.

Gene

What size cleaners do you use for steel string?

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

I just mic the string, then mic the cleaner, and use the size just above the string size, to allow for no binding in the slot.

Gene

Why not put a piece of the string in the jeweller's saw instead of the torch cleaner? I haven't tried it yet, but I would think it would cut just as well as the torch cleaner.

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA