Dyeing a Bone Nut

[frets]

Guys,
I’m in the middle of a build and want to darken the bone nut given the hardware is all black. I’ve heard of coffee, tea, even shoe polish. However, I know someone on the forum is familiar with this subject and might have a better method. I desire the nut to be as dark as it can be. Thanks!

[reTrEaD]

Disclaimer: I've not actually done this so the following is pure speculation...

Shoe polish seems like a very bad choice although shoe dye might be just fine. I'm guessing wax would just get in the way so a dye with an alcohol or water base without wax or oil would be preferable.

Tea won't get you a dark enough color. But the tannin in black tea will probably attach well to the bone and make a good receptor for iron acetate. If you go that route, be sure to create your iron acetate outdoors as I've been told the gasses from the reaction smell quite awful.

In any case, I would expect the bone to be rather slow to take on dye so expect to soak the nut in the dye solution for days rather than minutes or hours.

[frets]

Retread, Thank you for your help. I believe I’ll be going the actual real Black dye route. I hope it will at least give it a blackish/grayish hue.

[thetragichero]

black analine dye mixed in denatured alcohol seems to be the route
you won't get perfectly black but it should get you much darker than tea or coffee or anything
for jet black i see one fella dyed and then used black Sharpie with a thin layer of cyanoacrylate (krazy glue) on top

[cynical1]

You can try leather dye. Some of the bone material will probably take the dye better than others, but typically after a few applications it should darken up nicely. Down side of natural materials. I think TUSQ sells black nuts...if the dye route fails to impress...

Happy Trails

Cynical One

[thetragichero]

i figured one would only want to work with bone if required. I'm all tusq on my end and couldn't be happier

[sumgai]

frets, meet cynical1 , the half-evil Nutz of our group. c1, meet frets, a nice young lady who happens to share our interests.


frets, unless you have to have the job done tonight, then I must concur with the rest of the membership and recommend a TusQ nut. Although these are available at retail from a large number of brick-and-mortar shops as well as on-line sources, they were invented by the nice folks at Grahptech, up in Delta, BC, Canada. So you might as well go straight to the horse's mouth for info, then purchase them elsewhere. That last is due to the fact that anything they ship across the border is going to pass through Customs. And of course, what would your government do with all of your tax dollars if they didn't attach a lengthy delay to your purchase, eh? Think of it as a bonus.

Graphtech TusQ Nuts


But if you're insistent that the nut currently under your fingertips must be used, then go ask the nice folks at ReRanch. They sell, and give information about, lots of products that either restore, or more often, restore but with a used appearance (so-called "antique-ing", and other similar terms).  Several members here, past and present, have recommended them.

Reranch.com


HTH





sumgai

[frets]

And here I thought I was the lone female on this forum of guitar gurus.

Thanks to you all for helping me with this problem.  It’s a new build and I did the neck myself.  It’s flame maple with a Pau Ferro fret board.  I could not get the fret board thin enough, it kept on splintering off and whizzing by my head.  So I had to cut it thicker which resulted in a dilemma that I thought I could solve with a nut on steroids.  I have a Gibson Nubone on it and it just didn’t  make the height.  Look at the size of this nut I made !!





So now I have this thick fretboard and a ginormo nut.  But it will be a nice build. Hopefully.



Nice to meet you Cynical1 !!

image hosting free

[thetragichero]

what if you built up in under that black nut with a scrap of... dyed walnut? ebony? dyed maple?
either try to match one of the colors already there or contrast it
heck, may even be able to integrate the truss rod cover with this riser so that it looks like you meant to do it - turn an oopsie into a design element
that's what i would attempt to do

[frets]

Trag,
I thought about scaffolding the Nubone up, and then I thought, “I’ll never have a clean integrated “look” with the space between the Nubone and a riser.” There would always be that little junction “line” between the two. If you or the other fellas had an idea on how I could make it look seamless, I’d do it in a hot second. The “tallness” of the nut looks freakish and geez, I don’t want that big honking nut on there.

[sumgai]

frets,


There's a reason you've got a "slide guitar conversion nut" in there.... in 99% of most cases, the nut sits in a slot of the fingerboard, not adjacent to it directly on the neck wood. Yes, there are exceptions, but not too often. And it's particularly true for Fender-made axes, and nearly all clones thereof. Probably not all, that's something I don't want to be held accountable for when the inevitable exception crops up, but you get my meaning.

From where did you procure the fingerboard?  And just for curiosity's sake, was it a blank piece of wood, or was it "ready for installation"?

Jan 27, 2020 16:46:28 GMT -5 frets said:

And here I thought I was the lone female on this forum of guitar gurus.

I'm not sure whom you may be referring to, but I hope it's not c1 (cynical1).  A long time member here (in fact, he just passed his 12th anniversary of membership, just a few weeks ago), cynical1 is generally regarded as our go-to guy for anything related to wood.  Another member, Runewalker is nearly as well-versed in all things wooden, and in creating general mayhem when it comes to discussions about "tone wood". (Use the Search function for more fun and games on that topic. )  Sadly, Rune checks in only every so often, we can't call him a regular any more.

For his first 11 years, c1 was very regular, contributing to the general welfare and upkeep of the place.  But in the last 12 months or so, he's had to pick up and move his frau, his none-too-small collection of guitars and other esoterica, and all 3 of his horses back to the Chicago area.  We've excused him for old time's sake, but we're about to start harangueing him if he doesn't show his face around here a bit more often.

Fun fact;  c1 used to live just down the interstate from me, something like a 4 hour drive.  We visited several times when I took the RV out for some vacation time, and I think we even played... was it once, or.... suffering from CRS on that one.

Possible fun fact; after me, c1 might hold the title for meeting the most other Nutz in person.  Either he or newey, almost certainly.  (I'm sitting at nine individual Nutz, and I played/jammed with most of them.)

And final fun fact; c1 is the bass player for that oft-missed, much-fabled band that never appeared in public, Legal Fiction.  The Search function might be your friend for this one, too.

HTH

sumgai

[newey]

Possible fun fact; after me, c1 might hold the title for meeting the most other Nutz in person. Either he or newey, almost certainly.

Sumgai may have me on the number of in-person Nutz visits. I count ChrisK, LP3, sumgai, cynical1, and alex (aka "ace") whom we have not heard from in some time. So, 5 is my count.

We have had a few other female members in the past, but none who have contributed as much (or, even, simply stuck around) as frets has. So, we're grateful for your contributions and your perspective. BTW, looks like a nice build- is this for you or someone else?

[cynical1]

Yeah, so I may have been slacking the past couple of years...but I'm still working on the judgmental part...

Yes, you could shim the nut. It will likely stand out like a sore thumb on the build. I used to shim nuts with brass stock. It polishes up nice, and as long as it's going to be obvious...it may as well polish up nice.

A couple of questions, if you don't mind...

1.) Where did you get that fingerboard?

2.) Did you shave the maple to accommodate the additional fingerboard thickness?

3.) Did you re-position the truss rod based on the additional fingerboard thickness?

4.) Did you compensate at the bridge for the additional fingerboard thickness?

That's it for now. Ask sumgai...I do this...

Nice build.

Happy Trails

Cynical One

[frets]

Sorry Cynical for changing your sex.

I kinda wish I would have gone the brass route instead of this bone behemoth slide nut (that I cut myself).
1.) Where did you get that fingerboard?
I buy the wood that I use for all my builds from MacBeath Hardwood at macbeath.com. They have fantastic wood at fairly reasonable prices. You get what you pay for.
2.) Did you shave the maple to accommodate the additional fingerboard thickness?
Cut,Shaved and sanded. I wasted 2 really nice sections of the board that splintered and about took my eye out (dodge the wood).
3.) Did you re-position the truss rod based on the additional fingerboard thickness?
Absolutely, that’s why I have a truss Rod cover over it. I had to extend it further out. It’s just slightly looser side to side than I wanted but is in well and has significant bite.
4.) Did you compensate at the bridge for the additional fingerboard thickness?
Absolutely, all I need is to get this nut finished and the action will be spot on.

[frets]

Sumgai,
You know, I am going to cut and slot the nut. I waffles over it, took the easy route and have made more work for myself.
I buy all my boards by board feet and cut them myself. I’m not super dooper at necks but they work for me and my small hands. The build is for me.

[sumgai]

Jan 28, 2020 17:17:35 GMT -5 frets said:

Sumgai,
You know, I am going to cut and slot the nut. I waffles over it, took the easy route and have made more work for myself.
I buy all my boards by board feet and cut them myself. I’m not super dooper at necks but they work for me and my small hands. The build is for me.

Glad to hear that you're even more hands-on that I am. However, neither of us will ever hold a candle to c1... you should see the 100 year old slab of wood he's got stashed in his shop, just waiting for some tooling time.

Size of one's hands is not an issue, not at all. What is the issue is design practice(s). Your answers to c1, above, tell me that this isn't your first time at the rodeo, so I half expect that you'll soon be posting tutorials on how to do these kinds of things.





sumgai

[frets]

Oooo, Sumgai, I have to respectfully disagree that size does not matter. Ha!
You ought to see me play a baseball neck, impossible for me. My hands are so small that the only neck that I can really play for hours is something around 19mm’s, like a Wizard. You should hat me play a Gretsch...you wouldn’t.

[newey]

Somewhere in the title of this thread there's a joke to be made.

Along the lines of "What dyed so that you could have a bone nut?"

Or sumpin'.

(Sorry, gumbo hasn't been around much, and we needed some derailing . . . :

[sumgai]

Jan 28, 2020 23:25:58 GMT -5 newey said:

(Sorry, gumbo hasn't been around much, and we needed some derailing . . . )

SHHHH!! Don't ask for it, you just know he'll sneak in here like an upside-down cockroach and......

Jan 28, 2020 23:25:58 GMT -5 newey said:

Somewhere in the title of this thread there's a joke to be made.

Along the lines of "What dyed so that you could have a bone nut?"

Or sumpin'.

Ya know, my fine-feathered friend, I just got through telling frets in a PM that we're a family-friendly Forum, and you go and pull out this chestnut.

Which of course precludes me from saying anything aboot where hands can fit, and whether or not a nut can be made.

sumgai

[sumgai]

Jan 28, 2020 19:47:52 GMT -5 frets said:

Oooo, Sumgai, I have to respectfully disagree that size does not matter. Ha!
You ought to see me play a baseball neck, impossible for me. My hands are so small that the only neck that I can really play for hours is something around 19mm’s, like a Wizard. You should hat me play a Gretsch...you wouldn’t.

It's all in the attitude.  I've seen players that can solo on their own guitar for hours, but hand them any other axe, and they fold like a cheap card table.  I've seen other players that can pick up anything, and sound exactly like they've owned the axe for years.  And while attitude has a lot to do with it, that's only the start.... next you have to commit to working on your stretching exercises during your guitar practice sessions. Just be aware that you if exercise (or practice anything, really) without the right attitude, then it will all come to naught. 

But trust me on the sun screen*.

HTH

sumgai

*  If this seems strange and out of place, then Bingle for Mary Schmich.

[reTrEaD]

Jan 28, 2020 17:12:53 GMT -5 frets said:

Sorry Cynical for changing your sex.

Ouch! That sounds painful.

[reTrEaD]

Jan 28, 2020 19:47:52 GMT -5 frets said:

Oooo, Sumgai, I have to respectfully disagree that size does not matter. Ha!

SPOILER: Click to show

(Gumbo isn't the only one who can derail a thread.)

[newey]

Ya know, my fine-feathered friend, I just got through telling frets in a PM that we're a family-friendly Forum, and you go and pull out this chestnut.

Now, you're reading a lot more into my pun on the words died/dyed than I ever intended. (Perhaps I should have made it "what animal dyed")

Granted, I never said it was a good joke . . .

[thetragichero]

bet next time frets is gonna avoid the terrible puns and try to figure out how to use a tusq nut...

[frets]

Amen to that, and no more 1/4 inch fretboards. We learn from all our builds. I just wish one would go “easy.”

[thetragichero]

true that. I'm building a 1x15 cabinet and I've gotten further in a couple hours than i did in a week of building my first cabinet (2x12), so far with better craftsmanship
if you're anything like me you go back and completely redo builds from 5-10 years ago

[frets]

Hey Fellas, back to a dyed nut.  Here it is after 4 days in black aniline dye.
/PGVq54s
More than I expected, a darkish coffee brown.

Here is the rest of my plan so you guys can may offer up superior nut plans or approve the following.

(I think one of the moderators on the forum offered up this idea and it sounds good to me).

I was thinking of letting it dry, cut the slots, take a chisel tip Sharpie, coloring it thoroughly black, then wiping it with super glue.  Probably several layers.

Are there any issues with that plan; or, better ideas to get it black?

[thetragichero]

i found it in another forum. seems like a good plan to me

[frets]

Thanks Trag

[newey]

It looks good now, why not cut the slots and then put it back in the aniline dye for another 4 days?