Quote:
Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars
I have successfully being doing my own saddles for a couple of years now, with very precise measurements. I am a stickler for accuracy.
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Just for clarity, in the technical world, "precision" and "accuracy" have two different meanings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accuracy_and_precision
If you'll excuse the pun, you don't have to go nuts on file sizes - or quantities. Files can be used with a "rolling" sort of technique to produce variably larger slot sizes than the actual width of the file. That is, as long as you have a file a little smaller than the actual slot width you want to produce, one file size can be used on a variety of slot widths. This allows you to have far fewer files but use them on a much wider range of slot widths.
To throw more flies in the ointment, so to speak, a more recent addition to nut slotting is the introduction of gauged nut saws. Each saw produces a saw cut width (kerf) of a specified size. Unlike files, each saw can't very effectively be used to create a variety of slot widths: each saw produces a singe, stated slot width. The primary advantage to using saws is that they cut/slot VERY fast, much faster than files.
I prefer to use fine saws for the B and E strings, rather than files. They cut much faster and don't bind like the narrow files do. The saws can also be used to "rough-in" nut slots on thicker strings, removing the bulk of the material, making the subsequent use of files much quicker and easier.
If you have a size-on-size slot and string diameter, the string will bind in the slot. I typically use a few thousandths larger file than the string diameter. However, I also use the "rolling" technique to leverage the file sizes that I have so as to accommodate a range of string diameters. (Translated, that means, the "few thousandths" is qualitative, rather than an actual measurement.)
Keep in mind that gauged fret files first appeared on the market in the 1990's. Prior to that, people used needle files, an inexpensive, but adequate set of which is about $10. I have two needle files that I used for more than a decade to cut nut slots. Those two files, and a single saw, were all that I found necessary. All that to say, gauged nut files aren't necessary, particularly if one does only occasional nut work. If one does a lot of such work, as in being a professional repair person, the gauged files save time and effort: in skilled hands, they don't produce better results, just faster results.