Fossilized Mastodon Ivory

[Chuck H]

On the subject of nuts... Anyone ever use Corian for nuts and bridges? Corian seems like it would be a good choice as it's hard, sands and tools about like bone or a bit tougher and can be had in white and off white colors. I do like the idea of natural materials for the same silly reasons as anyone would but it's just an idea.

[cminor9]

A mastodon bone nut is like the ultimate hipster expression.

"Yeah man, this nut comes from a *mastodon*! They were mammals before it was cool. They're pretty obscure, you've probably never heard of them..."

[Ronsonic]

On the subject of nuts... Anyone ever use Corian for nuts and bridges? Corian seems like it would be a good choice as it's hard, sands and tools about like bone or a bit tougher and can be had in white and off white colors. I do like the idea of natural materials for the same silly reasons as anyone would but it's just an idea.

My Gibson Nighthawk came with Corian from the factory. It's the only nut that's ever been on that guitar so I really can't compare, but I have the impression that it does ring more nicely than bone, but not quite like ivory. I did touch up the slots once and it works well, as in submits to cutting and polishing nicely.

It isn't an uncommon material for nuts nowadays and you can buy ready made blanks or probably mooch scrap from a contractor for like free. Corian also has the advantage of not stinking the place up like bone or chasing you out of the shop when you cut it like ivory. Damn does that stuff reek when you hit it with a dremel tool.

[Ronsonic]

Its advantage is that it isn't against the law to kill mastodons for their ivory these days. They're all pretty much dead. So you may want elephant tusk ivory for your nut, but you can get mastodon ivory.
Its disadvantage is that it's not the kind of stuff you can get in unlimited quantities, hence the price.

You can get ivory, legally, in guitar nut quantities for a fairly reasonable price. Actually, it isn't more expensive than mastodon, though traveling with documentation might be a bit of a bitch these days.

I'll also insist that it is bad governance that's killing off elephants, not musical instruments.

[Chuck H]

Corian also has the advantage of not stinking the place up like bone or chasing you out of the shop when you cut it like ivory. Damn does that stuff reek when you hit it with a dremel tool.

Yeah, I found Corian nut and saddle blanks shortly after posting. And bone does stink. My wife has a mild dentist phobia and I'm not allowed to work bone nuts and saddles in her proximity. It actually smells just like your getting a tooth drilled.

[Mark Hammer]

My cousin and his wife were stationed in Zimbabwe for a while, some 20 years back or so, and were part of an expert group presiding over the cull of an elephant population that had grown to big for its own good. Knowing what we know about the Zimbabwean government now, I can't begin to imagine the disposal/distribution of the results of the cull was squeaky clean.

[jrfrond]

Yeah, I found Corian nut and saddle blanks shortly after posting. And bone does stink. My wife has a mild dentist phobia and I'm not allowed to work bone nuts and saddles in her proximity. It actually smells just like your getting a tooth drilled.

Yeah, that bone smell is awful if you are working it with power tools, and can permeate a shop or a house in seconds. I've taken to purchasing precut bone as much as possible, so that only minor handwork is required, because the older I get, the more I just can't get past the smell. I also like Tusq, and I've used Corian quite a bit. It's cool because it comes in great colors besides white, cuts very much like bone and polishes to a mirror shine.

[David Schwab]

I've been using Corian for nuts for a while. Another material I used to use was aluminum.