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Originally Posted by Tommy el Gato  That is very cool. Thanks for the heads-up on that. Any chance you could direct me to a place to find a template or something like that for, say, a P or J nut? |
When I made my first nut, I didn't find a template necessary because all it takes are a few simple measurements, which you can take from the existing nut and nut slot, using basic tools.
The good news is that, if you have the skills and already own a few rudimentary tools, making a nut can be a quick, inexpensive, and rewarding experience. If, on the other hand, you don't have the tools, you'll have to ask yourself if buying them will be more expensive than paying a luthier to do the job for you, and whether it makes sense for you to buy tools based on your estimates of their their likely use in the future.
Length and thickness are fairly critical, but not difficult if you're patient; if you want to be hyper-accurate, you can use calipers to do the measuring; for my first nut, I used a simple ruler and hand tools, milled the stock slightly oversize, and used abrasives to bring it to final size and polish it to an acceptable sheen level.
I like to make the nut blank somewhat taller than the exisiting nut (it could buy you enough wiggle-room to accommodate a do-over if you mis-file the string slots). When you get the string slots right, remove stock from the bottom of the nut until it's at an acceptable height.
Hope that helps
