Attaching the Saddle

[Diane Kauffmds]

Apologies for the late response COVID finally caught up with me thanks for the responses now I have a plan.

Pat

Oh boy. I hope you got a mild case and you're on the mend. My husband and I just got another booster yesterday.

[IRISHPICKER]

Thanks Diane,
I am over it now but it took a bit much longer than I expected. Up to now I have been lucky but I think now that I am back in the office my exposure levels went up and either that or public transportation got me. Well certainly over the worst of it hopefully get back into my project.
Thanks for asking,
Pat

[JLT]

I use tape on the location of the bridge before finishing, but only enough to mask off an approximate area where the bridge goes.The area is smaller than the bridge itself. The idea is to save myself a bit of scraping when the time comes to locate the bridge properly.

You're asking for trouble. Inevitably, the bridge will fail. You have to remove all finish from under the bridge, clear to the edge.

Here's what I meant by "saving myself a bit of scraping:" I do scrape everything that will end up under the bridge. It's just that by masking off the area that I know is going to be under the bridge, I will have saved a substantial amount (maybe 75%) of the work of scraping. But you're right in that all of the finish has to go before I glue the bridge on.

[JLT]

Note to board webmaster: I somehow ended up posting the previous response twice. But there doesn't seem to be any way of deleting a post entirely. Or am I missing something?

[phavriluk]

I think JLT (July 7) was describing his taping off (for discussion, 80%) of the bridge footprint so that the finish scraping removal for the bridge was only on the outer rim of the remaining 20% of the bridge footprint. Masking tape kept the finish away from most of the area under the bridge and saved him a heap of scraping.

[Diane Kauffmds]

I think you're right Peter. I read the post wrong. I get so many bridge failures in my shop from improper finish removal. But I think you're right about the post.

[scamp]

I masked off the area under the bridge making the mask about 1/16 inch less than the actual outline of the bridge. It appears it would make sense to scrape right up to the very edge of the bridge before I glue it on. I am a bit concerned about how to do this accurately. Do you just use an exacto blade to trace around the bridge? I would like to maintain the nice finish right up to the bridge. Any suggestions?

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I believe the typical way is to use the exacto knife and score around the bridge. Then scrape away.
I've never done this. I do what you've done with the tape.
Then I just glue the bridge down after finishing the finish.
I've not yet had a bridge lift or a failure. I use Titebond.

Just what I do and so far 15 guitars in.....it has worked

[Diane Kauffmds]

I masked off the area under the bridge making the mask about 1/16 inch less than the actual outline of the bridge. It appears it would make sense to scrape right up to the very edge of the bridge before I glue it on. I am a bit concerned about how to do this accurately. Do you just use an exacto blade to trace around the bridge? I would like to maintain the nice finish right up to the bridge. Any suggestions?

Yes, I've always used a #15 xacto blade. Just take your time and gently score around the bridge. This way, when you remove the excess finish, you'll have a clean line.

I use my inlay tool to remove the finish, only cutting through the finish. John Hall has a YouTube video showing the technique. I know that you probably want to do this by hand though.

Use a razor blade, or a chisel held like a scraper. Start on the scored edge, and scrape inward, away from the edge. You'll be scraping towards the area you've masked off. You don't have much to do since you masked off most of the bridge.

[scamp]

[quote=scamp post_id=56861 time=<a href="tel:1659267638">1659267638</a> user_id=3355452]
I masked off the area under the bridge making the mask about 1/16 inch less than the actual outline of the bridge. It appears it would make sense to scrape right up to the very edge of the bridge before I glue it on. I am a bit concerned about how to do this accurately. Do you just use an exacto blade to trace around the bridge? I would like to maintain the nice finish right up to the bridge. Any suggestions?

Yes, I've always used a #15 xacto blade. Just take your time and gently score around the bridge. This way, when you remove the excess finish, you'll have a clean line.

I use my inlay tool to remove the finish, only cutting through the finish. John Hall has a YouTube video showing the technique. I know that you probably want to do this by hand though.

Use a razor blade, or a chisel held like a scraper. Start on the scored edge, and scrape inward, away from the edge. You'll be scraping towards the area you've masked off. You don't have much to do since you masked off most of the bridge.
[/quote]

Thanks. Very helpful.

BTW. I looked for a #15 exacto blade on line and can’t find that size. I did find a #16 that looks appropriate. I’ll probably try the #16.