[CAUT] Downbearing Error - solution

[Richard Brekne]

Hi folks

After a restless night thinking about the prospect of recapping I 
remeasured my string offset angles today and calculated out that I have 
about 2.5 degrees in the high treble and just over 1 degree in the 
bass.  Not quite as bad as I had thought after all.... but still too 
much.  As it turns out I can get down to just over 1.3 in the top and 
close to 0 in the bass by taking a piece of 5 mm thick hardwood (the 
sticks they send with shanks from Renner as it turns out) and form them 
to match the contour of the plate just in front of the hitch pins.  
Fashioning a string rest with some thin felt brings up the back length 
to levels that I can easily live with.

I am left thinking however that something ended up different from when I 
had the soundboard and bridge clamped and screwed into place.  I layed 
out the bridge and got the height where I wanted it at that point... and 
proceeded to drill and notch the bridge on the work bench before glueing 
it to the soundboard.  But when I glued the thing on and the soundboard 
into place the bridge surface was higher.  How can this have happened is 
whats bothering me. 

Seems safer (tho perhaps more cumbersome) to glue everything in place 
first and then do the plane down the height, do the layout, drill and 
notch the bridge.  How many of you folks do things this way.. and if you 
do it the way I did this one... what could have caused the error ?

Cheers
RicB