I am about to complete my third guitar build and I am shaping the nut in the final setup. It has a zero fret (just trying that for a change on this one) so the nut won't actually be holding up the strings or setting the action. The nut will really only be acting as a string spacer. I was thinking of using ebony instead of bone - partly for the different look. I know a lot of old-time guitars used to have ebony nuts, and you see it used all the time in mandolins and banjo saddles. Has anyone got experience with this?
My main question is - which way would you have the grain oriented?
cheers
Mark