Dear Brian and List- The tool I would recommend is called a straight chisel, and is a woodcarvers tool. There is a very acute bevel on both sides of the edge, and it makes it much easier to carve out the notch without rounding off your nicely defined line. Nick Gravagne had an excellent series a few years ago on bridge reconditioning where he talked about notching extensively. These tools also make it easier to notch the speaking side of the low tenor in shorter grands without hitting the case side. That is a problem with traditional chisels. Good luck! David > Hi, I'm trying to improve my bridge notching. It's pretty good, >but I'd like it to be better. The problem I've been having is that it is >very easy to slightly round over the edge of the notch on the top of the >bridge with the back of the chisel. Any of you been there? I've been >using a standard Marples 5/8" chisel. I believe the bevel is somewhere >around 25 deg., but I don't have an exact angle. It does help a lot if >it's well sharpened. But is there more to it? Would it be better to >reshape the bevel side of the chisel (which I have down when cutting out >the top part of the notch) so that it's more of a rounded shape, more >like a scoop? Is there a special tool just for this already? Just want >to make em' as good as I can. :-) Also, more as a postscript, I had a >problem with wandering drill bits when I drill out the bridges. You may >remember the thread. I tried making my marks, and then using a sharp awl >to mark them much deeper, perhaps 1/8" into the cap in the direction the >pin would go. That was the ticket. The drill just followed those marks >all the way. I just finished up a set of bridges yesterday, and they >turned out great. Thanks to all for the suggestions on that one. Best >wishes to all, Brian Trout Quarryville, PA btrout@desupernet.net David C. Brown RPT Staff Piano Technician School of Music The University of Texas at Austin mailto:dcbrown@mail.utexas.edu
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