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Exactly.

Which is why it’s a blank vs a drop-in replacement.

I've found when making new saddles that you can't trust a nominal 1/8" saddle to fit snugly in a 1/8" routed slot, so I use a 3 mm router bit, and sand the saddle blank to a good fit. Bruce W.

You'll find that all blanks are made larger than needed, including nut blanks and bridge blanks. It's worth the extra work to shape them though, because they'll fit the specific guitar or situation.

It's normal to sand down saddle blanks to thickness. The trick is to hold onto it while you're sanding. One idea: cut a pocket recess in a block of wood that the blank will just fit into. Then rub it across some suitable sandpaper, maybe #80. If you make the pocket a hair over 3/32" deep, you'll know when to stop.

Thanks to all or your input I have a working guitar. I am playing it now and I will wait until the snow melts before I fine-tune the bridge, apply a lacquer finish, and attach the pickguard.

The strings are 0.090 high at the 12th fret. Despite the slight concave bow in the upper register of the neck, I will have room to asymmetrically sand down the bridge to lower the action on the high E side of the bridge.

Unfortunately, I think I rushed the bridge building either due to impatience, the low temperatures in my garage, or both. I can always build another bridge when both my patience, skills and temperature improve. I used Tite-Bond Hide glue to set the saddle in the bridge, as I went too far wet sanding the saddle. I don't know if the bone swelled, or the bridge swelled, but the morning after obtaining a tight fit I realized I needed to use a little glue to secure the saddle.

Bridge building lessons learned by a neophyte:

• be patient

• a template is good, but accurate measurements and a template are better

• a better jig produces a better finished piece

• be careful when wet sanding, a bone saddle/bridge may swell, and gummy residue affects measurements

• use a new fine hacksaw blade or zona saw when cutting a bone saddle blank

Thanks again and I'll repost the finished guitar when the snow and spring rains make way for bright sunny skies.

Photos:

• Guitar with new bridge

• Bridge profiles

• Strung guitar