MIMF

I am making a new bone saddle for my guitar for the first time.
I was told needle files are a good tool to have for this.
I found a few on Amazon prime, one conventional carbon steel and with diamond coating:

http://www.amazon.com/JawayTool-Carbon- ... op?ie=UTF8

http://www.amazon.com/JawayTool%C2%AE6p ... op?ie=UTF8

Or should I spend twice as much for the Stew Mac ones:

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Ty ... _of_5.html

I am think the diamond coated ones might be best.

Thanks

What other tools do you have to work with? I'm not sure that needle files are the best or only tool to do the job.

How about some tape (single or double-sided stickiness), and a few bits of sandpaper glued to a popsicle stick or a board? A trip to the cosmetics dept of a drugstore might produce a multi-sided abrasive stick that is commonly used to file fingernails.

Bob Hammond wrote:What other tools do you have to work with? I'm not sure that needle files are the best or only tool to do the job.

How about some tape (single or double-sided stickiness), and a few bits of sandpaper glued to a popsicle stick or a board? A trip to the cosmetics dept of a drugstore might produce a multi-sided abrasive stick that is commonly used to file fingernails.

I do woodworking and have lots of other tools, sandpaper, oscillating spindle sander, bandsaw, etc. I think the needle files were recommended for filing small areas for individual strings if compensation is needed. My current saddle has some of those. Seems like they would be handy to have on hand as I plan to do some guitar building in the future.

Micromark has a nice set of needle files that won't break the bank.

http://www.micromark.com/12-piece-micro ... ,8382.html

Be aware that needle files are not really useful for making saddles. They are too small for the job.

Barry Daniels wrote:Be aware that needle files are not really useful for making saddles. They are too small for the job.

Yes I realize that. I think the idea is they would be used to file small areas for compensation for individual strings.
But I have never made a saddle before so what do I know.

they will be handy for all sorts of jobs in the shop....and as for not having made a saddle, don't worry about it, just do it, and always make NEW mistakes!

Good needle files are made by Grobet in Switzerland. You don't need 12 you need 2 or 3. I'd go for a knife edge, a round and a triangle. There are some ovals that could be useful in slotting a bass nut. Diamond files aren't particularly sharp and the good ones are expensive. The Grobet files come in at least three levels of coarseness and you need to decide how fast a cut you want. The coarse ones cut faster but they also tend to pull to one side.

I have some Grobet needle files and also some cheap Chinese set from Harbor Fright. The cheap ones do just as well as the Swiss ones, and they are fairly expendable. $3 or so for a set is pretty cheap. I try to find the coarse ones because they will remove material quicker than the fine cut ones. Sometimes you don't get a choice.

I do a few saddles per week, and seldom use more than an 8" mill bastard to radius the top, a 4" mill bastard to do flat bevels, and a dual radius 4" cabinet file to cut the compensation contours. If you want to replicate the weaker notched construction of cast tusk saddles (e.g., Taylor), a safe edge/safe face rectangular needle file set can be used, or just buy an auger file from Woodcraft, which has the safe edges and safe faces already done. Please think about handling your files...Skroo-zon handles work, or just make one up from scrap for the needle files.

The micromark files are smaller than the typical needle file sets you see. I think this is a plus for some of the work we do. They come with a pin vise which can be used as a handle.