Official Luthiers Forum!

Well, I just got the cheapo nut files I ordered on fleabay. They are total crap and not dimensioned in any logical way. I definitely don't recommend them. Complete waste of $20.

I chance upon some used double sided hosco ones on ebay. Look good but haven't used them yet. Electric sizes but I can use one of my other files for the low e.

Sorry to hear. I'm not surprised though, I've never been happy with a cheap tool.

The saddest part of this is that Vallorbe, the company who makes the finest files in the world and sells them to Grobet is now permanently shut down. Grobet has a new supplier in Italy but the Italians see no profit in tooling up to make these files because everyone is buys these files from Asia on the cheap. Everyone suffers at the loss of quality tools.

Check out Lutherie.net on how he cuts nuts and the files he uses. Takes more skill but you only need four files to cut any size slot. It'll set you back about $60. A deal compared to other options and you still get very high quality files.

Best of luck,

-j

Thanks, folks. I've ordered a set of nut files, not terribly expensive, so gonna hold off until they come.

BTW, per Hesh's recommendation, I put a small shim under the saddle to raise it up a smidgen. I actually used a round toothpick which raised it about 1/8". I then tightened the truss rod (slowly) approx 1/2 turn, which reduced the relief and brought the neck close flat. Can someone recommend to me a decent supplier on Ebay or elsewhere to buy a quantity (5-10) saddle blanks so I can experiment with making my own?

Thanks very much!

CL

Hey Scott - We buy much of our bone from Cristie Song at Chrislin Trading Co. http://www.chrislintrading.com and have been very pleased. Ask what they have in stock so that they can ship immediately. We at times have needs for non-standard stuff and that takes a bit longer to grow the cow, process it, and ship it from China....