Gluing Metal nut to Wood? Guitar Nut Repair question

[Top-L]

I filed under the nut on my new Chinese Floyd guitar to get the height correct, and noticed that one of the screws that hold the nut in place is going partly into the truss route. That screw does not seem to be holding particularly strong.

Nut is staying in place for now, but I don't have confidence in the hold, so I want to fix it right. I could see it working loose over time. Maybe a string break or just repeated use could loosen it.

Now that the nut height is correct, I could glue the locking nut in place. Would superglue suffice here? There is about 1/16 - 1/8" rosewood under the nut, backed by maple.

Or I could fill the hole and drill a new one at an better angle into wood beside the route. That seems problematic and might be less secure.

Any opinions on best way to address this?

 

[jtougas]

Re: Gluing Metal nut to Wood? Guitar Nut Repair question

A little spot of wood glue should do the trick - string tension will hold it down the rest of the time.

Superglue would either soak into the woodgrain too quickly, or (even worse) make sure the next time you try to pull the nut off that you also take a healthy splinter of neck wood.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Gluing Metal nut to Wood? Guitar Nut Repair question

Dowel the old hole and re drill.

 

[Top-L]

Re: Gluing Metal nut to Wood? Guitar Nut Repair question

I glued the nut with wood glue, working perfectly now.

I have filed under the nut on many Ibanez guitars with the clamp thru design, but the floyd with the screw in showed me that my filing was not particularly accurate (there was some tiny nut movement causing strings to trade tension slightly under bar abuse.) The screws not as strong as the bolt-thru.

I think if someone uses a hand file to reduce under the nut, unless he is a master craftsman and can ensure that its perfectly flat, the glue is a good idea because it creates a solid bond thru. I'm sure a luthier could explain the pros/cons of this approach, but they use glue on traditional nuts so this seems to be working fine.