Bridge Notching Trouble

[A440A@aol.com]

Terry writes: 
> but then after going downward the first tiny bit (maybe one millimeter
>or so), I need to angle the chisel more toward the horizontal. At that
>point I find my chisel riding on the top bridge-pin-line edge that I just
>cut so nice and cleanly. The riding motion tends to round off the nice
>top edge that you want to be ever-so sharp. How not to do that? 

Greetings, 
   First, you need a chisel that is sharp enough to cut the notch without 
levering it against the back of the cut.  The move to make is not one of 
dropping the handle of the chisel as you traverse the notch,(which turns the 
fresh edge of the notch into a rounded over fulcrum),  but rather, keep the 
cutting edge's attitude toward the work the same as you go through the notch, 
much like a plane's blade.  This takes practise, but is the only way to make 
a clean stroke.  
     It also helps if you have the notch pretty well done before the final 
pass with the chisel, ie,  you don't want to make your "defining" stroke one 
in which you have to move a lot of wood. So,  get almost all of the wood out 
of the way before you put the blade's edge across the bridgepin holes and 
your last push with the chisel should take off a wafer thin chip. 
Regards, 
Ed Foote RPT