Bridge slotting and drilling.....

Tonight I didn't have a lot of time to work on the SJ so I decided to slot and drill the pin holes in the bridge since that is a fairly quick task. Since I had already made the jig when I built the 000, the hardest part was already done! The only part I needed to change was the positioning piece that indexes off the bottom shape of the bridge to hold the blank firmly in the jig. I made the shim out of MDF and proceeded to cut the slot for a 1/8" saddle. I then layed out the pin holes and drilled them out. I still need to pick up a counter sink so I can ramp the holes cleanly. I used a step bit last time and I was not happy with the outcome. I need to have the correct tool to do the job right!

Here is my dremel in the bridge slotting jig I built. It works very well and is fairly fool-proof. The only problem I have is starting the bit straight vertically. So far I have not been able to get it perfect and as a result, one end of the slot has a little divot under the saddle edge.

The bridge after slotting. The little shim I was talking about is the curved piece with the line through it at the bottom of the bridge. Believe me, the bridge is very tightly set into the jig. The only way I can get it out is to un-screw the jig from my table and push the bridge out and then it is quite tight.

Here you can see the little divot under the saddle I talked about. It is from the bit not going in perfectly straight up and down. A plunge base would help with this.

The pin holes layed out. I punched the centers with a center punch tool before drilling on my drill press. This picture also shows the spot where the bit didn't go in straight. If you look at the very left end of the slot, you can see that it is rounded out wider than the actual slot.

The bridge after the holes were drilled. I think it looks pretty nice.