mandolin nuts

[keymandoguy]

When you build a mandolin are the slots allready in the nut ?Do you file them with slot files? what is the procedure. I want to put j74 strings on a mandolin that came with ultra light strings what do I need to have done ?thank you.

[Dedian]

Hi! When you get a nut it is usually not slotted, nor formed - It's usually much larger than you need. What you may need are files for the particular gauges of strings that you will be using. Nut action height is also something to keep in mind. The bridge, too, should be looked at to make sure the strings aren't too thick/thin for the existing slots. Good luck!

Stuart

[jc2]

For nut slots I ground the set off old saw blades such as fine toothed wood blades for recipro saw and hacksaw blades. I put them in a crossvise against a piece of steel to hold them without bending when ground, then slowly sanded off the set of the teeth until they were the size I wanted. Then double checked the kerf size on material similar to the nut. Final smoothing and rounding of the slot was done with a piece of wound guitar string 1 or 2 1/000ths larger than the intended string. Worked good.

[John Flynn]

Slotting files like StewMac sells are the best thing, but if you are only doing one nut, they are a bit pricey. One workaround I just used was to get a set of torch tip cleaners at Home Depot. They were only about $4.00 for the whole set. Essentially what they are is pieces of stiff round wire in different sizes, with file serrations along the length of them. Think of them a short pieces of mando string, only with "teeth."

They are designed to clean the tip apertures of gas torches. When I went to cut the mando nut, I marked where I wanted the slots on the nut and then created starter grooves by placing an Xacto knife blade on each mark and tapping it with a hammer. Then I widened each groove just slightly with a triangle file. Then I measured the tip files with a micrometer, finding a tip file that was just slightly wider than each string, and then fininished filing the slots with the approriate tip files. The only problem was the E strings. There were no tip files that small. For that, I just used a combination of a little bit of triangle file and some passes with the Xacto knife. If you get the E slots as good as you can that way, they will kind of cut thier own grooves under pressure. The only other caution is that the teeth on the tip files are pretty aggressive. on a thin micarta nut, you can cut too deeply before you know it if you are not careful.

In your case, though, you are just widening some slots, so you would just go straight at the existing slots with the tip files. Be careful you don't file past a decent level of nut relief. In my case .003 was about as low as I could go without buzzing. You also may need to dress down the top of the nut so that half of each string diameter is above the nut.

You could spend a few hours doing all that and hopefully do a decent job, like I did, or you could spend a few bucks with a luthier and have him do a perfect job in about 45 minutes! My rule is: If it's a cheap mando and I have the time and interest level, I'll try it. If it is my good mando, it goes to a pro!

[Bandersnatch Reverb]

Take a look at Frank Ford's www.frets.com

Over there you'll get the step by step to making a nut. Its not "that" hard, but there are a few things to watch out for.

StewMac has two basic type of nut files - one is double edged with two sizes, the other is a single size. You'll find, if you're gettting files, that the double edged one is better for the two smaller string sizes, while for the larger string sizes, single edge ones are fine. The double edged/two size one is FAR stronger than the single edge ones in the very smallest sizes, so its worth it to get of those over two regular files. Consider the largest strings you'll play with when you slot the nut and select files.

In short you'll want to fit the nut, dress the sides (more or less), slot it, dress the top to allow the strings to just poke out from over the slots, then blend the sides with the top for final fit.... then a single drop of glue under it will hold it in place.