<HTML>In a message dated 11/4/2002 4:28:00 AM Pacific Standard Time, mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Subj:Bridge Notching Trouble Date:11/4/2002 4:28:00 AM Pacific Standard Time From:<A HREF="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com</A> Reply-to:<A HREF="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> To:<A HREF="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> Sent from the Internet        Terry wrote I'll have some bridge notching coming up in a while. I have always had some trouble in the past keeping the notched top edge sharp. By this I mean I line the chisel up in the middle of the bridge pin holes, start my downward stroke (I try to do a bit of a curve so that the top edge is a large angle - not vertical, but more vertical than horizontal), 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? I can see that cutting a straight angle would fix that problem, but I've always thought that the steeper you can make the top edge, the better the termination (assuming you don't undermine the bridge pin). I think Fazioli puts a vertical drop on their bridges. Those pianos sound OK to ! me.     </BLOCKQUOTE>           Hey Terry <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">    I thought about your question again today as I was busily notching. Everybody has there own way of doing this and heres mine. I noticed that if you look really closely at a side view of a really nicely notched bridge  there is a really nice scoop look moving down and away from the pins starting at the point the where the strings are bisected.     II have found of course really sharp chisels are  required to carve these notches. I'm sure that's no mystery to you. The key for me was two things. I use a Freud 1 inch chisel with the back slightly rounded and I use it upside down for the final cut. I hog out most of the wood from the notch with an offset Japanese dovetail chisel and then on my last cut or two with the Freud I bisect the pin line and with a smooth but quick motion push forward and down the back of handle at the same time. I found that moving to slow is less accurate and successful but faster requires the confidence to just go for it. Does that make sense? </BLOCKQUOTE>       If every thing is working well I can hold the bridge up at eye level and see if our notched are imitating the <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">same kind of beautiful swoop those guys did at the factory. The tough thing for us is that we don't do this everyday like the good ole boys did so we kind of have to mentally think it through each time.  It used to take me several hours to notch a bridge. I've got down to bout hour and half. I find that if I can do one a month or so I stay sharper than if I've had a 3 month hiatus. It's all about practice and frequency like the rest of our business. Hope that helps.                 Dale Erwin</BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>