Today I worked on a new bone nut for the Florentine build. It was the first time I got to use a new toy - the Stewmac "Safe Slot Nut Guard". In the past I have found it hard to hold and bend a stack of feeler guages against the fretboard radius by hand while tracing lines on my nut blank. This little tool from Stewmac seemed to be the answer to this problem, holding gauges firmly against the fretboard and thereby leaving my hands free to wield my pencil with confidence.
Unfortunately, following Stewmac's own nut making guide, although I was able to draw the first line at fret height + 0.030, adding another 0.045 for the thickest E string for the next line meant a stack of feeler gauges that was now too fat to fit the tool's slots. Talk about disapointing!! With slots just a few microns bigger, this would have been a perfect tool. Bad luck Stewmac.
Unfortunately, following Stewmac's own nut making guide, although I was able to draw the first line at fret height + 0.030, adding another 0.045 for the thickest E string for the next line meant a stack of feeler gauges that was now too fat to fit the tool's slots. Talk about disapointing!! With slots just a few microns bigger, this would have been a perfect tool. Bad luck Stewmac.
get a file and widen the slots, problem solved.
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