Help, I'm an idiot... (nut slot boo-boo)

José de Londres

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I wanted to lower the action on the g string of my tenor a little, so I went to work with the nut files and predictably went too fast and too far (I of course blame this on the KoALoha KTM-00 being my first instrument with a tusq nut, and that stuff seems to file away much quicker than bone for some reason!) Anyway, I "fixed" my error with the trusty superglue and baking soda trick and that seems to have corrected the problem and got the slot height back up to a level that prevents buzzing. A couple of questions though:

1.) Is this a long term solution? I mean, is the baking soda/superglue cement hard enough and stable enough that the slot is effectively "good as new"?
2.) If it's not and it's just a matter of time before the slot wears down to where I originally filed it, is there anything I can do other than buy a new nut?

I should mention, I'm not really enamoured with the idea of shimming the slot with paper or cardboard or anything.

Anyway, hopefully the slot is stable again, but thought I'd check.

Thanks in advance.
 
It should last for years, at the very least.

I've read about repairs using dental products, set with UV light, but I'm pretty sure a new Tusq nut would be cheaper (unless you're already a dentist).
 
Ok thanks, well years sounds good. I don't use wound strings so hopefully the abrasion on the glue/baking soda should be minimal.
 
When I go too deep on a nut slot I just put a drop of CA glue on a fine needle and and carefully apply it into the slot..You can put baking soda in the slot first as well.. if you wish.;)
 
From my own mistakes and repairs of same...(with regard to cutting nut slots too low, etc)

Tusq is a man-made composite material invented/patented by Graph-Tech and every example I've seen of it is softer than bone (being organic, yet possibly of inconsistent density), and Tusq is MUCH easier to shape than bone IMHO (especially with simple tools).

Micarta is another man-made material similar to Tusq which I have used to make nuts and saddles, and is a bit cheaper than Tusq too and easy to tool, but using a dremel even at the lowest speed will melt it (like a soldering iron on plastic) from the heat due to friction, so I resort to hand saws and files instead, but it's been my experience that Micarta is a little 'harder' than Tusq but still easy to work with.
 
When I go too deep on a nut slot I just put a drop of CA glue on a fine needle and and carefully apply it into the slot..You can put baking soda in the slot first as well.. if you wish.;)

Thanks, now that Barry Maz's review has elevated you to demigod status, if it's good enough for you it's definitely good enough for me ;)

From my own mistakes and repairs of same...(with regard to cutting nut slots too low, etc)

Tusq is a man-made composite material invented/patented by Graph-Tech and every example I've seen of it is softer than bone (being organic, yet possibly of inconsistent density), and Tusq is MUCH easier to shape than bone IMHO (especially with simple tools).

Yeah that stuff is ridiculously soft compared to bone. I've done minor repairs on a few bone nuts and stupidly assumed tusq would have the same "give" without doing a little research first. But in comparison it came away like it was rubber.
 
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