<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Hi all,</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN>Below are pictures of a downbearing gauge I made fairly recently.</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN>The basic component of this is the graduated line level, made for gutter hangers, plumbers and the like. It has lines corresponding to 1/8", 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" per foot, which translates into a 1:96, 2:96, etc ratio, very close to 1:100, or a sine or tangent of .01 per unit. Set it on one segment and adjust to 0, then check other segments in comparison. (Start on one side of the bridge, with 0 facing the bridge). Or, for that matter, adjust to 1/8, so you can measure a negative difference in slope. Or just remember what it is and compare.</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><SPAN class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </SPAN>This was a bare-bones design, easy to make. There are lots of ways it could be made fancier, but it works. The jiffy key lead on the bottom is for stability (lower center of gravity, so the gauge sits nicely on the string segment). The brass feet on the bottom are 1/8" brass stock, inserted and filed flat, then grooved with a file. The adjustment screw is a machine screw with reasonably fine threads. The hinge, which you can't see, is just a little decorative thing I found in the drawer: the right size for the job. The line level is scotch-taped onto the wood (hey, it holds, so I haven't bothered to do anything different.</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Regards,</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Fred Sturm</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">University of New Mexico</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><A href="mailto:fssturm@unm.edu">fssturm@unm.edu</A></FONT><IMG src="cid:5E3D34E5-2F35-4327-AE89-A1694BEBD26A@unm.edu"><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">100_2790.JPG</FONT></DIV><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></P><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><BR><IMG src="cid:214623AA-5754-4B87-82E1-8DD494624DFB@unm.edu"><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">100_2791.JPG</FONT></DIV><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></P><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><BR><IMG src="cid:720395EE-1AE4-4DBE-A303-24BAA72B7E85@unm.edu"><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">100_2796.JPG</FONT></DIV><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></P><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV> </BODY></HTML>