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Re: Installing Nut on Guitar Neck
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2022 10:52 am
by scamp
phavriluk wrote: ↑Thu Jul 21, 2022 10:32 am
Who said building guitars was easy, or even straightforward? OP is dealing with a nut installation whose ambiguity is driven by installing a fingerboard without being told up front that locating the fingerboard is influenced by the nut's thickness, the nut being the last part installed on the guitar? I suspect nobody told him and that's not a need that comes readily to mind on a first project. There's a large workload of anticipating the future implications of a step that needs doing right now.
(Changing metaphors here: I think guitar kits are more closely related to stick-and-tissue model airplanes, piles of raw materials with a few shaped parts, than to plastic kit shake-the-box model airplanes ready to glue together.)
The fret board on my kit was already located on the neck with locator pins ( on the neck ) and locator holes ( on the back of the fret board). In retrospect, I guess you could try and sand down the neck plane before you glued on the fret board to get more room for the nut but that ship has sailed. I think it's not a big deal at this point to just fit a 3/16 wide nut ( vs 1/4 ) and move on. Your comment about the kits is accurate. Mostly a pile of basic materials and semi completed parts that require a lot of research to figure out how to make work.
Re: Installing Nut on Guitar Neck
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2022 11:53 am
by Stray Feathers
Scamp, it looks like Diane has you on the right track. Just looking at your photo (which helps a lot) I think you have some glue cleanup to do in the nut slot area, and it looks like you will gain some width in the slot when it is cleaned up - maybe to the 0.20" you estimated, and 3/16" is less than that at .1875. John Reid's router setup would clean the slot up nicely. You're almost there! Bruce W.
Re: Installing Nut on Guitar Neck
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2022 1:30 pm
by scamp
Stray Feathers wrote: ↑Thu Jul 21, 2022 11:53 am
Scamp, it looks like Diane has you on the right track. Just looking at your photo (which helps a lot) I think you have some glue cleanup to do in the nut slot area, and it looks like you will gain some width in the slot when it is cleaned up - maybe to the 0.20" you estimated, and 3/16" is less than that at .1875. John Reid's router setup would clean the slot up nicely. You're almost there! Bruce W.
Yep. I need to clean out the nut slot for sure. It's mostly some painters tape I'm using to mask off the slot and some Tru Oil that built up a bit on the edge of the fret board. Shouldn't be a problem. I'm very sure I can get a 3/8 inch nut in there and maybe if lucky a 0.2 inch nut ( not a big difference i guess ----.0125 inches ). As you say... almost there. Still need to put on a few more layers of Tru Oil before I can get to it. Hopefully I'll me making music soon.
Re: Installing Nut on Guitar Neck
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 1:06 pm
by scamp
Was able to fit a 3/16 inch nut.
Used a Stewmac 3/16 inch seating file.
The file is actually narrower than 3/16 so I used a thin spacer on one side to make up the difference.
Needed to clean up the edges of the bottom of the channel using a 1/8 inch chisel.
Thanks for all your help and suggestions.
Re: Installing Nut on Guitar Neck
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:04 pm
by Diane Kauffmds
Looks good. Just round it a tad, so it's more of a gentle curve at the break angle. You have a very good start.
Re: Installing Nut on Guitar Neck
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:07 pm
by Diane Kauffmds
Screenshot_20220829-140545_Gallery.jpg
Re: Installing Nut on Guitar Neck
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:38 pm
by scamp
Thanks Diane
I planned on putting more of a curve on it as you suggested. What I have now is a very ruffed in approximation. I was going to mimic the nut on my Martin guitar. Your drawing is helpful and is basically the same as my Matin. Thanks!!
Re: Installing Nut on Guitar Neck
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 8:08 pm
by Stray Feathers
I would never know you'd had issues with it! Nicely done!
Re: Installing Nut on Guitar Neck
Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2022 10:07 am
by MaineGeezer
scamp wrote: ↑Thu Jul 21, 2022 1:30 pm
Stray Feathers wrote: ↑Thu Jul 21, 2022 11:53 am
I'm very sure I can get a 3/8 inch nut in there and maybe if lucky a 0.2 inch nut ( not a big difference i guess ----.0125 inches ).
Shouldn't it be 0.175"? (3/8= 0.375) Or am I missing something, somewhere?
Re: Installing Nut on Guitar Neck
Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2022 9:32 pm
by scamp
MaineGeezer wrote: ↑Sun Sep 04, 2022 10:07 am
[quote=scamp post_id=56755 time=<a href="tel:1658424646">1658424646</a> user_id=3355452]
[quote="Stray Feathers" post_id=56752 time=<a href="tel:1658418789">1658418789</a> user_id=3336289]
I'm very sure I can get a 3/8 inch nut in there and maybe if lucky a 0.2 inch nut ( not a big difference i guess ----.0125 inches ).
Shouldn't it be 0.175"? (3/8= 0.375) Or am I missing something, somewhere?
[/quote]
Sorry. My mistake. I should have said 3/16 inch not 3/8. 3/16 is 0.1875.