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a safe set up technique is this
take a piece of your trim from the hi e string
when setting the nut slot pluck the string and slide the trimmed string under the string. once you touch it that will set you up about .012 off the fret
that should make a playable guitar and safe from buzzing

Any technique advice, whichever variation OP wants, don't mix advice from several sources. Pick one source and ignore the others.

Hi all. Appreciate all of your thoughts and comments. I'm going to use the wider nut, cut as much off the bottom as I dare to get it close to right height, and then cut the slots just slightly deeper when I do my final setup. This should give me a slightly wider string spacing than the standard dread nut, with 0.105" (my calculation) distance still to the edge of the fretboard either side. If I try that and don't like the spacing I can always remove it (provided I don't overly glue it in place like that first guitar I built) and start again with the narrower one.

I love tools, and know that I really should buy some proper nut files. But I got a really good result on that first guitar from a playability standpoint using a combination of razor saws, ground hacksaw blades and welding nozzle cleaners; it just took forever to achieve. The top profile still looks a bit crappy though, because I had to shape that with everything glued in place. Live and learn as they say, I'll do better this time around (whether I buy the files or not!).

On the subject of conflicting advice: I think this can be confusing for some folks, but I love hearing all the different ways people have of accomplishing the same goal! I weigh them all up against the tools and equipment I have and past experiences trying to do similar things and then do what I think would work best for me. I think knowing your options is valuable in making those choices, so thanks to everyone who took the time to comment.

And finally, a totally gratuitous pic of my Nova Scotian back yard, with the guitar in question drying outside after receiving the final coat of wipe-on poly. I actually only found this forum by stumbling onto John Hall's 'finish experiment' thread with poly, and would never have tried it without the encouraging words found there. But it works really well for amateurs like me, who don't need the kinds of 'professional' finishes more advanced builders do. I sand a bit more than John did (finishing with 2000 grit wet and blocks) but follow the same basic plan that he outlined.

Cheers!

OK, just to wrap up the question I had about the nut supplied with the StewMac OM kit - I wrote them, and they have confirmed that the 1-13/16" nut they supplied with the kit was the right one, and that it was intended to be used on a 1-3/4" neck. Still seems weird to me, but their customer service is great, and it's definitely comforting to have someone confirm that all is correct and as intended.

To recap, the reasons for my confusion were (1) page 19 of the kit instructions say that the supplied nut is pre-shaped to 1-11/16" width and direct you to cut the fingerboard to this width as well, (2) the neck blank supplied is actually 1-3/4", the very nice full-scale OM guitar plan they send with the kit shows it as that dimension as well, and (3) the nut they actually supplied was pre-shaped to 1-13/16", neither the earlier stated 1-11/16" or 1-3/4" neck dimension.

So there you are, just in case anyone else is building one of these and scratching their heads as well.

The exact specs for the supplied nut (direct from StewMac service) are as follows:

Item # 6022-VS is for the OM Guitar Kit
1-13/16" x 13/32" x 1/4"
(46.02mm x 10.29mm x 6.35mm)
18" (457.20mm) top radius
1-17/32" (38.86mm) string spread

and it's meant for use on a 1-3/4" neck.

Andy

just to make sure....compare the kit nut to the kit fingerboard and satisfy yourself that the preformed nut slots allow for a comfortable edge setback on the E/e strings. If not, then start over with a blank nut.

phavriluk wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 12:57 pm just to make sure....compare the kit nut to the kit fingerboard and satisfy yourself that the preformed nut slots allow for a comfortable edge setback on the E/e strings. If not, then start over with a blank nut.

Thanks for that advice... best measurement I can make, it looks as if I'll have 0.105" or so either side to the edge of the fretboard with the spacing as supplied. That looks a bit tight to me, but probably workable. Before even thinking about this I put a fairly sharp 30 degree angle from vertical on the fret ends, which sort of works in my favor in avoiding strings 'falling off' the edges when playing.

Probably would have been less stressful just to have started with a blank in the first place though... I'd have certainly had to ask fewer questions!

Thanks again.

Andy

From what i am seeing, 30° is the least steep that anybody uses, and plenty do. 20° and even 15° is not uncommon and results in more real estate along the top of the fret

ruby@magpage.com wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:23 pm Andy

From what i am seeing, 30° is the least steep that anybody uses, and plenty do. 20° and even 15° is not uncommon and results in more real estate along the top of the fret

Thanks for that as well, I have much to learn! Too late for this guitar now though, unless I re-fret the whole thing...

I will say the way the fret end angle to file to is specified in the kit instructions is confusing. They just say 60 degrees but don't say which axis that is measured from. I couldn't figure it out on my first guitar, so I just tried to copy what I saw on my other 'commercial' guitars and ended up with fret ends filed to somewhere around 45 degrees. I'd clued in enough by this one that I knew they meant 30 from the vertical so I made a sliding file holder and did them to that spec. Which is better than 45 in the situation I seem to be faced with...though shallower would probably be better still.

on nuts do not use a ramp you want to think roller not ramp. The reason for this is simple , steel strings don't bend at a given point that takes a while for a string to settle in so use a simple curve to the bottom of the nut slot . The more you do this the better t you get at it.
I do use nut files and you don't want the string too tight so if you can keep in about .005 over size your good. I also bugle flare the back of the nut slot a little. It is all about lead in of the strings. Sharp corners and guitar strings are not happy.
I use the tuner post at a focal point for creating the arc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82JDqAbY-dU&t=16s

Thank you for all the tips and advice. It'll soon be time to put it all to use, I'll be tackling the nut and initial setup sometime in the next week or so.