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Identify this Nut and Saddle material
http://www-.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=7019		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  rich altieri [ Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:32 pm ]
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I received this from someone a while back and not sure what the heck it is but it looks awesome and had a nice ring to it when dropped on a marble slab. It was pretty easy to sand and shape so not rock hard - sanded like bone. It almost looks lik petrified wood or bone. Is a nice light brown with streaks of other colors and polished up really nice.

Any idea what this material might be??





A shot of the peg head and body to this point





BTW - the bridge is not glued up yet, just laid it on the body to take a pic in case it doesnt look like it is positioned correctly.

Oh yes, one problem. when I started sanding the neck I discovered to my surprise that the neck had a crack, probably happened when gluing up the fretboard or the truss rod. Made me sick to my stomach.

I sanded it and the Mahogany dust filled the slight crack at which point I wicked some ca into the crack. Now I have a line showing the repair. Not sure what to do to hide this. Thinking of a burst on the neck or simply using a stain to match the body - or perhaps an inlay of some spalted maple to match the head plate and rosette. Any ideas would be appreciated.

What if I dug out the CA and mixed up some white glue with Mahogany dust??

rich altieri38875.320474537
Author:  Michael Dale Payne [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:17 am ]
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could be fossilized Mamoth bone or possibly fossilized Walrus ivory the picture is a bit reddish so hard to tell. but what you described in sanding and texture that would be my guess
Author:  Mike Mahar [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:21 am ]
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I don't know what the material is.

As for the crack, I had one like that and I never could fix it. In my case, the back of the neck was too close to the truss rod. Every time I tried to adjust the rod, the crack would widen. I ended up building a new neck.
Author:  Dave-SKG [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:26 am ]
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Guitar looks beautiful! The nut/saddle looks like it might be African Watussi Cattle bone. Comes in Dark, Medium, and Light. The medium looks very similar to yours. Other than that... who knows?
As far as "hidding the crack"...
Either stain the whole neck dark and see if that hides it sufficiently, or get a graining pen and make the whole neck look like it's all that way...????
Author:  rich altieri [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:49 am ]
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[QUOTE=Hesh1956] Rich the guy you got that material from did not live near a cemetary did they.............. [/QUOTE]


Geez - never crossed my mind!!!!   

I like the idea of making it look like grain by extending with a graining pen. Dont like the idea that it might crack again when adjusting the truss rod. Thinks I will put it to the test by adding some tork to the rod prior to gluing it up to the body.   Thanks all for your advise
Author:  Andy Zimmerman [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 2:07 am ]
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stain or actually color the neck.
Tony did this for me and it looked great.
Author:  Michael Dale Payne [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 2:37 am ]
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Looks Like revers burst time
Author:  Dave Rector [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:16 am ]
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[QUOTE=Dave-SKG] Guitar looks beautiful! The nut/saddle looks like it might be African Watussi Cattle bone. Comes in Dark, Medium, and Light. The medium looks very similar to yours. [/QUOTE]

Dave, where do you get something like African Watussi nut and saddle material? That's some nice looking stuff and I wouldn't mind trying some out.
Author:  Dave White [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:22 am ]
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Rich,

I'd be a little worried about what the crack in the neck will do under string tension and truss rod adjustment and over time. If the guitar isn't finished yet, if it were my guitar, I'd be sorely tempted to do a new neck -salvaging the fingerboard and headstock veneers etc.

Others more experienced here will probably have a better idea whether the crack is just cosmetic or a structural problem.
Author:  rlabbe [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 4:41 am ]
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Off the top of my head, to hide the crack - coat the rest of the neck with CA so the colors all blend in. Have no idea if that would actually work; I'd test it on scrap first.
Author:  Billy T [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 5:51 am ]
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[QUOTE]Rich the guy you got that material from did not live near a cemetary did they.............. [/QUOTE]

Oh Man! That's creepy! At least its given me a great place to find tonewood!

Author:  tippie53 [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:17 am ]
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   Hi Rich
looks great. You came a long way. I think I would opt to make a new neck. The truss rod will stress that and though you may have it sealed with the ca there must be stress area.
    Call me sometime
570-682-8046
Author:  Dave-SKG [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:00 pm ]
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[QUOTE=Dave Rector] [QUOTE=Dave-SKG] Guitar looks beautiful! The nut/saddle looks like it might be African Watussi Cattle bone. Comes in Dark, Medium, and Light. The medium looks very similar to yours. [/QUOTE]

Dave, where do you get something like African Watussi nut and saddle material? That's some nice looking stuff and I wouldn't mind trying some out.[/QUOTE]

Dave,
First you book a flight...hotel...guide...no just kidding...the hard part is getting the Wattusi to cut enough bone off one of his cattle...but after...no just kidding. Actually it is for sale from Dick musical supply. www.music.dick.biz They are a German company. So everything is in Euro dollars. Order their catalogue. The Watussi bone nut is on page 76, part #831036 $8.5 euro. little expensive but very nice. They also have genuine lsinglass glue. toughest glue out there. good company.
Author:  Steve Kinnaird [ Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:52 pm ]
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Rich, this will probably be controversial, but I'd say just leave it.
I'm speaking of the appearance. If it's structurally sound, I wouldn't worry too much about that line. I've got some mahog that looks like that naturally.
(Well, unless someone dumped a lot of cracked/glued mahog on the market.) But from East Texas, that neck looks fine. It has interest. Character. A story to tell.
If it still bothers you, I bet that some staining of the neck would minimize the look.

Steve
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