Shaping a Guitar Nut and Saddle Blanks

Everyone has different ways of shaping a new nut or saddle from a bone blank. Is there a right or wrong way? Nope. There are definitely ways that are a lot faster than others. It typically only takes me about 5 minutes from start to finish…possibly less if I’m in a hurry. It is an important guitar part and good to gain knowledge on this.

Let me show you how I make one in our shop.

Here you can see how much material is needed to be removed. It is a lot, especially if you are going to try to sand it all away.

The secret to getting the thickness down quickly is to use a table saw, a long board, and our template double side masking tape.

Next, attach the double side tape to the board and then attached bone blank. Make sure to put some pressure on them to make sure they are securely attached. I like to attach the original nut (or saddle) in front of the blank to use as a guide for setting the thickness.

Place the board against the fence and set the thickness I want the blank to be. I sometimes like to leave it slightly thicker so I can fine-tune the thickness later especially when making an acoustic saddle. Here, I am using the original nut as a reference. You will need to remove it before cutting the nut blank so it doesn’t get accidentally damaged.

Definitely make sure to use a zero clearance insert on your table saw so you don’t lose the blank in the saw. I should also add, you want to use a large enough board so you can keep your fingers well clear of the spinning blade.

Here we are about halfway through the bone nut. OK, so there you go, a bone nut blank thinned to size. Since I’m already set up, I usually will run a few more nuts though so I have a few extra for another job or if I mess up this one.

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