Nut slotting file "replacement"

Everton FC · #1 07-15-2021, 08:50 PM

I don't own a nut slotting file. Unfortunately too, as I can use one right now. Any alternatives - anything I can "MacGyver" to create a faux nut-slotting file, to use sans the real thing? I thought an Exacto knife covered in very fine sand paper might work.

Brucebubs · #2 07-15-2021, 08:57 PM

What are you trying to achieve?
Making a new slot or cleaning up/widening an existing slot?
One string slot in particular or all six?

YamahaGuy · #3 07-15-2021, 09:00 PM

Old [wound] strings, torch tip cleaners, $2.99 needle file set from Harbor Freight have been my go to for 10 years.
https://www.harborfreight.com/12-pie...e-set-468.html

Matts67 · #4 07-15-2021, 09:23 PM

Grab a set of automotive feeler gauges. You can combine them to create various sizes for each string slot...wrap tightly with 400 grit sandpaper, turning to a fresh surface as the edge wears out. For the unwound strings, you can use the .015 and .020 sizes without sandpaper, but notch/rough up the edge of the feeler gauge itself and use it as a small saw (just know that this will remove material much faster than the sandpaper wrapping method).

Best to measure the width with a caliper, if possible. There's really no telling exactly how wide a combination of feeler gauges wrapped in sandpaper will be. You'll want to shoot for a few thousandths of an inch wider than the respective string.

Everton FC · #5 07-15-2021, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

What are you trying to achieve?
Making a new slot or cleaning up/widening an existing slot?
One string slot in particular or all six?

New bone saddle for the Tanglewood 12-string in my signature. Some slots need to be a little deeper, on the high end.

I like the idea of old strings/torch tip cleaners/needle file set. Ditto the automotive feller gauges!

kizz · #6 07-16-2021, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everton FC

New bone saddle for the Tanglewood 12-string in my signature. Some slots need to be a little deeper, on the high end.

I like the idea of old strings/torch tip cleaners/needle file set. Ditto the automotive feller gauges!

I´ve been through the tipcleaner/feelergauge thing and all i can say is that despite some folks maybe had succes with it, you should save your money ( and a lot of your time ) on that and buy som real nutfiles if you want to make a new nut.

Brucebubs · #7 07-16-2021, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kizz

I´ve been through the tipcleaner/feelergauge thing and all i can say is that despite some folks maybe had succes with it, you should save your money ( and a lot of your time ) on that and buy som real nutfiles if you want to make a new nut.

This has been my experience too.

EZYPIKINS · #8 07-16-2021, 04:56 AM

There is an abrasive cord you can get from Stew Mac. If just a small adjustment is needed.

There are a few different sizes. Use like dental floss. Check height by tuning up string and fretting the first fret.

When note between open and fretted are a true half step, ( or half tone) apart. Your good to go.

Rudy4 · #9 07-16-2021, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

This has been my experience too.

Double ditto.

If you use a quality material like real bone then torch cleaners or any other "alternatives to actual nut files" that don't have a set in the cutting teeth are a great way of chipping the edges of the slots.

A fine tooth hobby saw followed with 220 sandpaper bent around the edge will get you an acceptable slot if used carefully. You can simply fold the sandpaper and use the folded edge for the smallest slots, but a saw should be used to do the initial shaping.

If money isn't an issue then I'd recommend buying a set of the new diamond slot files made by MusicNomad. Sweetwater can have a set to you in a day or two.

slide496 · #10 07-16-2021, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YamahaGuy

Old [wound] strings, torch tip cleaners, $2.99 needle file set from Harbor Freight have been my go to for 10 years.
https://www.harborfreight.com/12-pie...e-set-468.html

Thanks, looks interesting - I have a similar set from amazon, and also I bought a set from Stewmac years ago. I've used both types if I have to make an adjustment.

Harriet

Alan Carruth · #11 07-16-2021, 08:52 AM

I actually used diamond jeweler's files to cut teeth into the edges of individual feeler gauges to cut nut slots. I finally clamped the whole bundle together used a diamond cut off wheel in a Dremel to tooth the whole lot, so now I have everything from about .005" up to .032". You can clamp two of them together to make wider slots, or use needle files and torch tip cleaners. A nice refinement would be to file the edges round before cutting the teeth, but you can do that afterward as well. These don't cut fast: good thing...

jpmist · #12 07-16-2021, 09:14 AM

I've had good luck with the acetylene tip cleaners on the thicker strings, but the thin files simply aren't stiff enough to be useful for the unwound string slots.

Along with the feeler gauge option. I used a dremel cut-off wheel to add teeth to the thin gauge ones for the thinner slots and they work great.

Buying several new files for over $100 is a great idea if you plan to do dozens of string slots in your lifetime, but the math simply doesn't work as well for me as the cheaper option.

SRL · #13 07-16-2021, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everton FC

I don't own a nut slotting file. Unfortunately too, as I can use one right now. Any alternatives - anything I can "MacGyver" to create a faux nut-slotting file, to use sans the real thing? I thought an Exacto knife covered in very fine sand paper might work.

If you can spare $110, I'd get the real thing. This is the set I have (also available on ebay, item #111480275490 with 754 units sold), 10-piece Hosco made in Japan.

If you can't, I'd take the guitar to a tech and pay them to cut your nut for you, which should be about half the cost. However, the files pay for themselves after two or three visits to a tech.

If you don't want to do that, the cheapest option is one of these suggestions above, like tip cleaners, sandpaper, sharpened feeler gauges (probably the best choice), whatever. These are the wrong tools for the job and you won't get a very good quality cut (needs to be straight with a rounded bottom, and you need to have enough tool control to angle the cut toward the tuner so you get a good break angle for the string), but if you're working on a cheap guitar, it may not matter anyway.

macoshark · #14 07-16-2021, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kizz

I´ve been through the tipcleaner/feelergauge thing and all i can say is that despite some folks maybe had succes with it, you should save your money ( and a lot of your time ) on that and buy som real nutfiles if you want to make a new nut.

This^^^
I purchased the Ibanez Prestige nut files off of Ebay for around 90-95 bucks. There made in Japan and work well.

Alan Carruth · #15 07-19-2021, 01:30 PM

SRL wrote:
"These are the wrong tools for the job..."

A set of precisely sized files will certainly make the job go quicker. OTOH, "it's a poor workman who blames his tools". It takes a bit of effort to make a set of saws from feeler gauges, but if you round off the edges before cutting the teeth the result will be just the same as the files will produce; in what way is that the 'wrong tool'? If you have the skill to shape the slots right, what does it matter which tool you use?