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This is so cool, thanks for posting it in the Finishing Your Guitar thread:

ruby@magpage.com wrote: ..... My daughter has her own shop (brooklynlutherie.com) and she got a tip from the late great Paul Hostetter (lutherie.net for all sorts of great info) and uses a mezzotint rocker for the job. It is a chisel like a toothing blade for a plane and does a great job even on very very old nitro. She uses the 1/2" width
Ed

Ed, I am super intrigued by this Mezzotint Rocker tool. Thanks for sharing that information. I had never heard of such a tool so I found the Mezzotint Rocker guy (Edward Lyons; Manufacturer of Fine Print Making & Engraving Tools) on-line at
https://eclyons.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=12 . This web site is LOADED with obscure little gravers, scribers and plate cutting tools, all hand tools. Man what an obscure art, this one.

So these mezzotint rockers are spec'd by width and number of lines per inch. The 1/2" one you posted looks to be equivalent to the 45 TPI one (actually lines per inch; LPI) at eclyons.com.

What is best practice for using a rocker to remove the finish at the bridge location ('cause I’m in!)? Bet I’ll be the first one on my block with a mezzotint rocker, “the finest mezzotint rockers available”: ½” X 45 LPI is $43.72 .

Anyone else use one or even heard of it?

plenty of old tool technology out there.

K

She holds it near vertical, then pulls away from the edge towards the center of the bridge footprint. The tool breaks the finish up into smaller pieces

Good luck and let us know how it goes

this is called toothing it was believed that it gave a better glue joint. I have seen studies that disprooved this tactic but there is a lot of evidence on old guitars ( especially Martins ) and it seems to survive well , it is still on customs with HHG. Many of these old tools are available and I am glad to see so many younger people starting to collect and follow the older trades.