Bone Nut Blanks

I've always brought Nut Blanks for my builds they aren't very expensive, but surely i can do them myself for cheaper.

this maybe a stupid question feel free to laugh.
Is there any specific animal bone i should ask my butcher for?

I assume they're mostly bovine, but Preeb uses camel. Probably not a lot of camels in your area, though.

Blanks are relatively cheap, so I've never bothered with anything else.

Cow Bone, I've heard shinbone is best. Takes a while to cure but a little goes a long way. One thing I've been thinking is Case pocket knives have cow shin- bone handles with some nice colors....... wonder how they do that.

i use cow, ox and camel bone - all unbleached, of course. 1/8" x 1/4" x 4.125" bone saddles for acoustics yield two nice fender style nut blanks. :mrgreen:

thanks Fred, i know they are only a few $'s but anything to save money

Rob is there any difference between using bleached and unbleached apart from colour does it alter the quality of the bone?

Bengal Tiger or Rhinocerous bone will yield the best tone... some say Ivory is better.

I'd use wooly mammoth ivory, but I'd hate for them to go extinct.

Rob is there any difference between using bleached and unbleached apart from colour does it alter the quality of the bone?

when bone is bleached, to make it pretty white, the resin is removed and that makes the blank brittle and prone to cracking. i never use that bleached stuff, only unbleached bone for mine and my customer's guitars.

I have bought a dog bone at PetSmart for $5 and it will yield probably 30 nuts. It measures about 8" long, and is average wall thickness of about 1/4". Motor_city_tele showed a nut making portion on his x12 tele build thread.

starts about here:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/212255-started-another-telecaster-build-today-x12-2.html#post2637373

Then jumps to here:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/212255-started-another-telecaster-build-today-x12-3.html#post2675684

I have bought a dog bone at PetSmart for $5 and it will yield probably 30 nuts. It measures about 8" long, and is average wall thickness of about 1/4".

Yep that's what I've done in the past, here's the current one I'm using.

http://i.imgur.com/qnjia.jpg (http://imgur.com/qnjia)

But I believe these might be bleached so maybe what Rob said applies to these bones?

cheers everyone some great info, i'm off to the natural history museum tomorrow i'll be taking orders on Mammoth tusk blanks

some bones sold commercially for dogs (so they can get their calcium requirement) are clearly not bleached - but some really do look far too white! i would NEVER give my dogs a bleached bone! in fact, most dog food and lotsa products for dogs are just junk and not the kinda diet they requre ...

antler/horn makes great nuts too - i use water buffalo horn for folks wanting a black nut.

you've mentioned bleaching but can you dye bone and what sort of dye would you use?

you've mentioned bleaching but can you dye bone and what sort of dye would you use?

gee, dunno. never thought much about that. i think i'd prefer that only fingers, saws, sandpaper and strings touch bone nutz. :cool:

I would think trans-tint would work awesome on bone.

my concern with tinting bone is that it will alter the bone in a negative manner, as does bleaching.

You could try boiling fresh bone in dyed water.. but I'd expect patchy results at best.

Like you all said, It's incredibly cheap.. Try it! I don't really have any clue on how to make a nut, is it really that hard? I'm talking about how hard it is to get the string holes and such to the proper depth and even saw them out. Any cheap files?

there are plenty of cheap files on ebay and it's not hard to get the holes to size just judge by eye

Butchers - ask for a marrow bone (ox thigh bone, fore leg or even shin)

The ones from the pet feed store have been cooked, which makes them weak.

How to break into usable pieces? - present to large dog (see avatar) and collect suitable pieces.

Boughten bone nut blanks are bleached or unbleached. Unbleached is yellower but has more fats left in the bone which act as a natural string lubricant. Pre-cut nut blanks still need filing, the slots provided are only starters.
Bought blanks are they way to go, far less messing about.

No such thing as cheap nut files. Swiss needle files are #NBG! See other threads.

nut files are something NOT to go cheap on - trust me. the only nut files worth having are the gauged, double edge ones, at about $13 each. the rest are not as good, and some are just junk. you WILL need six files. they will cut nut slots for string gauges 8 through 56. you WILL need a stew-mac nut file slot ruler, too - there is no need to fumble with laying out the slots for any width nut. if you buy nut blanks that are pre-shaped, save for the slot cutting, all that's required is some sandpaper (an emory board in 100 grit works just fine) and a half-pencil (to lay out the curve of the blank at the max depth of the slots - it's a guide of sorts). if you buy rectangular nut blanks, a few other tools are required.

www.frettech.com/nutz

You could try boiling fresh bone in dyed water.. but I'd expect patchy results at best.

Isn't that soup?

Isn't that soup?

Depends on which bit you plan to consume, I guess. :wink:

Seriously, though, boiling removes the marrow and residual meat but retains and evenly spreads the oils through the remaining bone, allowing that natural lubrication mentioned earlier. It tends to even out the colour nicely too, and retains a warmer translucent look.

I was a bone carver in my earlier life.

is this any good then? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AxeMasters-Guitar-NUT-SLOT-FILE-SET-KIT-Luthier-Saws-BEST-AVAILABLE-/350553528735?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item519e9e599f
if not do you have a link to good files

is this any good then? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AxeMasters-Guitar-NUT-SLOT-FILE-SET-KIT-Luthier-Saws-BEST-AVAILABLE-/350553528735?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item519e9e599f
if not do you have a link to good files

cumbersome (must change "blades" for each operation), very limited selection of "file" (blade, actually) diameters. it might work since the "blades" are actually serrated round wires. wouldn't know about how the wires will cut ....

look, there is absolutely no substitute for gauged, parallel nut files with rounded file edges. too many folks have tried other nut file schemes and all efforts fall short of those good gauged files. my advice is, if yer in this guitar game for life, spend the $100/usd or so and get a set of proper nut files that will last for more than a lifetime. promise. you can thank me later. :cool:

nut files are something NOT to go cheap on - trust me. the only nut files worth having are the gauged, double edge ones, at about $13 each. the rest are not as good, and some are just junk. you WILL need six files. they will cut nut slots for string gauges 8 through 56. you WILL need a stew-mac nut file slot ruler, too - there is no need to fumble with laying out the slots for any width nut. if you buy nut blanks that are pre-shaped, save for the slot cutting, all that's required is some sandpaper (an emory board in 100 grit works just fine) and a half-pencil (to lay out the curve of the blank at the max depth of the slots - it's a guide of sorts). if you buy rectangular nut blanks, a few other tools are required.

www.frettech.com/nutz (http://www.frettech.com/nutz)

And there we differ :cool:

Rob likes these micro saw type (straight cut)
http://www.stewmac.com/product_images/1sm/0821/Gauged_Nut_Slotting_Files_sm.jpg
(StewMac)

And I prefer these Hiroshima/Ibanez Vee files (Vee cut)
http://d176nk147hpzpn.cloudfront.net/a/allparts2/images/products/thumbnails/36312/1/3398_LT10250002.jpg
(Allparts UK)

The complicated looking coping saw in post above is a jeweller's tool

thanks guys i will invest in a good set then

I saw a guitar repair guy on youtube that bought a set of welder's files. I'll have to look into that...

I saw a guitar repair guy on youtube that bought a set of welder's files. I'll have to look into that...

in a word, "junk".

what is it that allows the perusal and purchase of hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of guitar/bass gear and yet balks at $100 for essential, life time tools that can be used by most anyone? :roll:

rob been looking around today what do you think to this set?
http://www.tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk/luthier-tools/nut-and-saddle-tools/nut-files-set-of-10.html?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=comparsionshopping
i'll order if you give it the green light

rob been looking around today what do you think to this set?
http://www.tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk/luthier-tools/nut-and-saddle-tools/nut-files-set-of-10.html?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=comparsionshopping
i'll order if you give it the green light

perfect. exactly what i use and endorse.

thanks rob i will get them ordered, you've been a great help

isn't TUSQ (man-made ivory) any good?

isn't TUSQ (man-made ivory) any good?

Tusq works just fine, but it is more expensive than bone.

I just head for the grocery store.... They have marrow bones on the shelf for making soups and stuff... I just select the ones with the thickest walls and it gives me a good reason to make home-made onion soup!! I always have some blanks from last year's bone lying around. When I see the supply running low, I just make another batch of soup! :P

Ok, now I'm hungry!

in a word, "junk".

what is it that allows the perusal and purchase of hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of guitar/bass gear and yet balks at $100 for essential, life time tools that can be used by most anyone? :roll:

Well currently I have maybe 500 dollars worth of guitar gear, I haven't yet got a job since summer started and I don't like to spend money on something I don't need to, you can get pre-made nuts for cheap.

Well currently I have maybe 500 dollars worth of guitar gear, I haven't yet got a job since summer started and I don't like to spend money on something I don't need to, you can get pre-made nuts for cheap.

bingo! we have a correct answer!

Personally I think buying the nut blanks is about the best idea even though I have to have them shipped to my country which costs quite a bit. But I've always imagined that you gotto get the fat and stuff out of the bone becasue surely when you put the nut on your neck and it's got fat and oil, then over a bit of time there will be diffusion of the fat into the wood? And the nut blanks that I've bought all seem to be pretty fatfree.

And all this talk about the contribution that the nut makes to the tone: would that be applicable once the string is fretted and how much open string playing do you do on an electric guitar?

Ed

I turned this:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd18/DeepDrummer/Epiday42.jpg

Into This:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd18/DeepDrummer/Epiday416.jpg

I marked the slots by using the old nut as a guide:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd18/DeepDrummer/Epiday417.jpg

And I did hasten the drying and aging process by doing this twice:
http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd18/DeepDrummer/Epiday122.jpg
total cost = nil Way better than a knitting needle that it replaced and as good as any I have seen or felt. Plenty hard, tough and just fine in every way. It wasn't easy and a bit scary with fingers so close to my grinder. Proper nut slot files finished it off.
If I had the time, money and a visa card, I may go for the Stew Mac ones again. They were nice for sure. Careful which one though as some require a curved bottom and some flat and tons of different sizes as well.

Stew Mac uses Beef bone and age it 2 years.
Stewart MacDonald Slotted Unbleached Bone Nut 6003-VS $14.98

I have used those as well. (flat bottom on that one)

perfect. exactly what i use and endorse.

Are these the ones that have on the box "Files of minute use."?