Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi folks,
Can anyone tell me whatbsort of thickness to use for spring steel side bending slats (not stainless)?
I know we can buy from sponsors, but I can get small quantities of 150 mm wide here in UK which is much more attractive than importing with postage, 20% tax and customs clearance fees.(Just had a few deliveries from sponsors!)
So if a few of you guys could stick a caliper on your spring steel slats and let me know it would be much appreciated.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Colin, my spring steel slats measure 0.4mm.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Mine measure .012" or .3 mm

I have tried many different thicknesses . There is an equation you must be aware of and that is the temper or hardness in relation to the thickness. If you can get a 302 stainless allow .015 is good . harder , is thinner softer is thicker. I think you will find that .015 for guitars is about what you need . .381 mm is what I come up with . So find something near that .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks John for that info, sorry to hijack a little but is there a good place you can recommend getting sheets like that here in the US?

I do sell it . In the us you can find this at most industrial supply houses . The hardest part is cutting it . Stainless is hard to cut .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

The easiest place is MSC Industrial Supply or www.mscdirect.com I bought my stuff from them and u can usally get it very close to the sizes you need off the shelf . Not extremely inexpensive , however there deliveries are 2nd to none

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Hi Colin

I'm in the UK and got my spring steel from http://springsteelstrip.co.uk/2009/11/04/spring-steel-strip/ The guy's name is Steve, he is very helpful and has supplied many UK luthiers with slats.

Mine are 0.012" or 0.3mm and work brilliantly even in the cutaway areas.

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http://www.bobmatthewsguitars.co.uk

Mine are .012"x6"x50" when bought and i just cut off the end to get a better lenght. I used some metal shears with no problem. And now have some short pieces for doing cutaways on the pipe. I got them from www.lyonindustries.com for 12.36 each. They have been my favorite slats so far. I do have some spring steel slats, but they rust and stain too much for my likeing. I do use one on the outside of my blanket, where there isn't any water, to help support the bend.