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Making a solid nut base

jesterbass

jesterbass

Apr 20, 2007
366
131
#1
Hello, I am replacing the stock nut on my new Ibanez. The problem is the original was not seated very well (there was a gap under the treble side of the nut). So I am trying to sand the neck wood under the nut to make an even surface and at the same time take care to have a 90 degree angle with the rear part of the fingerboard. The problem is I can not make a 90 degree angle, but only more than that. That is, when the nut is solid against the neck wood it does not touch the fingerboard rear and vice versa. How do you guys prep the wood before glueing your nut on?

Thanks
 
#3
If you wrap sandpaper around the nut, you create a recess much too large for that nut, and alter the nut face to 1st fret distance, thus rendering the slot useless. Most luthiers use a seating file available from Stew Mac, LMI or even ebay. You need to set up guides to give you a correct 90 then slowly start to seat the slot, paying specific attention to staying flat with the file or you exasserbate the problem. You can make your own file with thin strips of 150 grit paper, double sided tape, and a thin squared strip of wood. Stick the sandpaper only to the bottom edge of the wood to work ONLY the bottom of the slot, and make sure the new nut is square.
 
#5
It's at the end of the board on an Ibby. Wrapping sandpaper around the nut and sanding brought me to this uneven condition because the sandpaper does not create a sharp corner. When you try to place the nut, there's wood left where the neck wood and finger board wood meet.
 
#6
If you have a dial caliper, find the fret slot for the first fret, and mark the center on both sides of the FB, then take the caliper with the outside jaws and measure 1.908"(34" scale) or 1.964"(35" scale) and mark on a piece of masking tape, you can clamp a small block of wood at this point as a guide block, and use it to keep from sanding away the front of the slot, and a guide to res your finger on to keep the file flat when flattening the slot.
 
#8
Thanks for the input people, I just used a little masking tape in the gap. Hopefully it is porous and it will allow the glue to work (I used a small quantity on both sides). I also filed the bottom of the nut to have a slight angle towards the fretboard so it is nice and snug now. I used more glue than usually necessary for a nut, and everything seems to be pretty solid, after all nuts are stressed in a sideways direction mostly.
 

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