What Are Graphtech Nuts/saddles Made Of? (diy)

[P90]

Anyone DIYers out there have any idea of what the Graphtech nuts or saddles are made of? They say "teflon impregnated polymer" -there's no graphite in those.

There's so many plastics suppliers on the 'net it doesn't seem like it would be too difficult to make my own nuts if I could get a chunk of the right stuff. Likewise, DIY saddles shouldn't be too hard with the right-size saws, bits and taps.

It's mainly a matter of getting the exact stuff.

I did a Google search on "teflon impregnated polymer" but that's not much help since teflon *is* a polymer. Maybe what I need to search on is "PTFE sheet" ? I'm not sure. I found stuff like this:

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?p...howunits=inches

http://www.smallparts.com/products/descriptions/vt-vte.cfm

http://www.fluorocarbon.co.uk/sheetandtape.asp

(I'm curious about those black blocks on that last one)

Any other ideas?

[fookgub]

don't know what graphtech uses... they probably custom spec a material. Delrin is probably a good choice for DIY, since it's hard, slippery, and machinable. I think I've seen a few nuts made from phenolic resin, too. Both materials are available from McMaster-Carr.

[P90]

Thanks... that McMaster site is great! Acording to this page (long link)

http://www.mcmaster.com/ctlg/DisplCtlgPage...idth=817#scroll

The Delrin AF is filled w 13% PTFE (teflon) ..though I don't know how that compares to Graphtechs. The cheapest 1/8" thick piece is only $13, so I guess that would be easy to compare it to a graphtech nut.

A 1/4" thick 6"x6" is about $27, so one could get a buncha nuts and saddles outta just one piece that size.

The alternative at Mcmaster would be the PTFE Garolite? (Or would the PTFE Delrin probably be best?)

[fookgub]

Thanks... that McMaster site is great! Acording to this page (long link)

http://www.mcmaster.com/ctlg/DisplCtlgPage...idth=817#scroll

The Delrin AF is filled w 13% PTFE (teflon) ..though I don't know how that compares to Graphtechs. The cheapest 1/8" thick piece is only $13, so I guess that would be easy to compare it to a graphtech nut.

A 1/4" thick 6"x6" is about $27, so one could get a buncha nuts and saddles outta just one piece that size.

The alternative at Mcmaster would be the PTFE Garolite? (Or would the PTFE Delrin probably be best?)

Don't know much about Garolite, except that Skip at Knuckle Guitar Works uses it for fingerboards (check out his basses, by the way -- really cool stuff). It's probably hard enough for nuts, but might not be. I'd try it just for the sake of experimentation, but the graphite-impregnated and PTFE-filled Garolites at McMaster are expensive. Delrin is a pretty sure bet since it's already being used for nuts (google slip-stone).

[P90]

Thanks.... I looked at the nuts section of StewMac and get this... they sell both the GraphTech and Slipstone/Delrin nuts... and they claim the Slipstones as "Our most "slippery" nut material." Heh.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddles/...Stone_Nuts.html

I also did some more digging and its plausable that the Earvana compensated nuts are also made of Delrin/Slipstone? Anyone know?

[soapbarstrat]

I have a "slipstone" blank from stewmac (which is delrin with a little teflon in it), and I also have what I think is a regular delrin blank off an 80's import strat. I think the regular delrin might be slightly more slippery than the slipstone.

You can't really buy the exact slipstone material from a source other than Stewmac because it's a custom color.

Can't verify if this is true, but I've heard that "teflon has poor anti-friction properties when under load". And then I was told that a guitar's string nut could be considered to be "under load" with all that string pressure on it.

Garolite is supposedly one of the most wicked materials for templates. I believe it has cloth fibers in it. I wouldn't use it as a nut material unless I got scraps for free. Some of the phenolics are damn hard though, and I've used a couple types for nuts and they work quite well. You can always use a material that's not slick, then wipe a little graphite/teflon/moly grease in the string slots to make 'em slide.

[knuckle_head]

Don't know much about Garolite, except that Skip at Knuckle Guitar Works uses it for fingerboards (check out his basses, by the way -- really cool stuff). It's probably hard enough for nuts, but might not be. I'd try it just for the sake of experimentation, but the graphite-impregnated and PTFE-filled Garolites at McMaster are expensive. Delrin is a pretty sure bet since it's already being used for nuts (google slip-stone).

I use Garolite for nuts as well and it performs like a champ. I am pondering using it as a bridge material for an EUB. I'll let you know how that goes...

[P90]

Update... I was doing a search on Google and I came upon an old usenet post from 1993... which said that GraphTech nuts/saddles are made from a material called "Graphlon" which apparently is a mix of graphite and teflon, and was popular for a while among other manufacturers for making nuts. (there's some pictures of a Peavey around which have a black nut)

Anyone know anything about Graphlon?

Edited February 24, 2007 by P90