On Thursday, May 24, 2018 at 9:49:08 PM UTC-4, OFWW wrote:
Was double verifying Nut replacement on the neck for a Fender strat.

One old codger who has been a luthier of years mentioned that he used
a dab of Shellac on the neck instead of Glue, especially the instant
setting Synthetic stuff which I hate doing as it is so permanent and
it strips wood out of the groove for the nut, depending on the amount
used.

I thought. WOW. what a great idea and easy to "undo" or repair.

Then I thought about good old horse glue, even easier on the wood,
etc, than shellac, or so it would seem to me.

Has anyone here used either? With bone or synthetics?

I just replaced the nut and the two hold downs for strings 1-4 with
Tusq XL with integrated lube and WOW!

Hi OFWW
I Never used shellac for that but it sounds good and reasonable as long as 2 mating surfaces are flat. I use a small dab ot white Elmers , the cheap stuff.

I also make a lot of replacement nuts and saddles from Cow Bone.
Belt sand Some Bome scraps
Save the bone dust in a small tin below your belt sander.
Its handy for slot repairs when they are too deep.
Mix it with epoxy and fill the slot. Let cure then re-cut the slot
to a higher measurement . to avoid a buzz at fret #1
rick B.