MIMF

well first off, how important do you think a perfect fit is. i messed up and have to fix mine but seeing how off it is and not noticing any difference confuses me. it's off prob 1/32 on each side. granted the guitar is so far from setup and i barely played it. it still makes me wonder, couldn't find any discussions about how the tone will change. now the real reason i'm posting, is i found a site talking about the importance of degreasing bone. i used a bone i bought from petco. it isn't one of the bleached bones, the ones that still have some tissue clinging. i put a nut i made already on my main guitar, now i got to take it off and degrease it. from what i read it can cause very serious issues. don't want to take chances gonna do it regardless, also is it going to change the size at all. that one does fit. just thought i would see what everyone thinks here.

Oh my, that bone is pretty meaty. I buy the bleached bone, I would definitely degrease a bone like that one. As to you question about the fit of a nut, I'm not sure I understand the question, could you post a pic of what you are asking?

I buy soup bones at the grocery store (the shaft, not the joint), boil them and put them through this degreasing machine for a few months. Works for me, but I certainly don't have any archival data.
Here a link on one way to do it properly:
http://www.bearmeadow.com/build/materia ... clean.html

Why would you go through all that trouble when you can easily buy one that's already bleached? I'd give that one Fideaux.

Been there, done that. I let them "season" in the backyard for a few months after the dogs were done. Decided it isn't worth the effort. Now I buy nut blanks and avoid that wonderful dentist office aroma.

makes me wonder... I have a repeat customer who likes me to make nuts and saddles out of deer antler that he provides. I'm getting ready to make a new set for him this week or next. Should I be doing something with that? It seems fine as is.

Antler should be OK, although it might come under the Lacey Act, since it's 'wild' material. It's not as hard as bone, but works pretty well, if you can find large enough sections that are sound.

yeah i didn't realize that being unbleached would make that much of difference. it wasn't that meaty but meaty enough. was gonna buy a bleached one but they were filled with different fillings for treats and didn't want to clean it out. live and learn. in the past i just bought blanks but for my 12 string saddle, the slot is so big couldn't find one big enough. then i saw a post on buying from petco and thought perfect. and lot's extra. as to the fit i'm just curious because i've read so many times how important a perfect and square fit on the face and bottom of the nut should fit against the slot. now i understand you want as much resonance as possible. not trying to be lazy, just curious because my rough cut was off quite a bit,(need to file the slot more, getting rid of a 0 fret)and whille on the guitar to get the string spacing i noticed it didn't sound that bad. ( know it sounds like a screwy order of things but i've never done a 12 string nut. plan on it taking 3 trys at least to be serviceable ) anyway just trying to pick some brains on something i really couldn't find any discussions about. i had thought about using antler also. a friend of the family used to for fiddles, and they do carry antler ( out here anyway ) at petco as well, just thought it might be a bit harder to work. sorry if i'm leaving a screwy post as i just got off a 9 hr shift, TIRED.

I bought several over the internet from a pet supply place several years ago.

When I did a google shopper search for "bleached dog bone" I get hits for bleached buffalo bone. These should be as good as the cow bone, or perhaps larger in size than the usual cow bone.