MS D-18

[Ben-Had]

Time to rock the frets. The only high spots I found ended up being in the middle of the frets on 10, 11 and 12. A couple quick passes with the fret file, polish with 320 and 600. then on to the rest of the polishing.

[Ben-Had]

Finishing up the frets.

[Ben-Had]

Go slow when you're reaming out the end pin hole. Even a quarter turn done aggressively can take too much wood out and leave the hole too loose. You want a snug fit, not too tight to too loose.

[Ben-Had]

The bridge pins holes will need to be reamed out. These are Martin pins and have a 5 degree angle. My bridge pin reamer is the cut-off of a Nicholson mill file (handle end) that has a perfect 5 degree angle to it. I sharpened one of the sides and it reams the holes out nicely. Forgot where I got this tip from but it works great. One day I'll make a handle for it to make the turning a little easier.

Each pin has slight differences in size and the holes are reamed to match. therefore each pin should be kept with its respective hole. This is a nice ebony set with white MOP dots.

[Ben-Had]

Time to make the saddle.

[Ben-Had]

I like my little cut-off saw. It works great.

[Ben-Had]

Flattening the saddle bottom. I sand the saddle up against the 1-2-3 block.

[Ben-Had]

Now I move on the thicknessing the saddle on my Luthier's Friend sanding station. I'll check my progress as I go until I close in on the .093 slot width.

[Ben-Had]

When I get to within about .005" above my target I'll finish up by hand smoothing out the grit marks on 150, 220 and 320. Then polish it with 600.

[Ben-Had]

Then i radius the saddle. This is a Martin Style so I'm using a 16" radius. I mark the bass side 1/32" higher than the treble side, this will make the bass side 1/64" higher than the treble at the 12th fret.