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Occasionally I need to widen a saddle slot on a bridge - or in the future, cut my own slots on custom bridges (I've been purchasing and altering Martin Belly Bridges to my personal shape up to now).

What would you recommend for a jig to accurately cut these slots.

I saw this product on Stewie but I wish it had micro adjustment wheels for really dialing it in.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Speci ... es#details

Anybody out there make something better?

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

Check here, Todd Stock shows a nice one that he built. viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=29329

Chuck

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I use the Stew Mac jig, with a Bosch Colt laminate trimmer. A picture's worth a thousand words.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

Also bit the bullet and went for the Stew Mac jig, made incredibly well and works just as good. The way I do it is you keep the rear "stopper" set, and to do the widening passes you slip a steel shim in between them however thick you need to widen the slot so you can cut pretty accurate with it.

Stew-Mac jig. It's worth the $$.

Mine is not "better" but it cost me nothing and it worked perfectly. I have a small collection now of homemade jigs made from scrap pine, and I'm leeery about warpage, but they work for now. As I gain more experience and cash I'll replace them with jigs that won't warp or wear as easily.

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"...you have to get over your strict adherence to your largely imagined notion of absolute perfection..."

I made this out of various aluminum plate and linear bearings I found on ebay. Very precise, and the stops allow getting the dimensions of the slot just right.

The vertical part unbolts, and attached to a fixed base, becomes my binding routing jig as well.

This is quite substantial and very impressive.

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

Could be a silly question, why not route the channel before gluing the bridge ?

John

I'm agreeing with your question.

What if you mess up? If it is off the guitar then you have recourse.

If it is on the guitar then you have problems.

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

I find it easier to get the intonation better, by routing after gluing the bridge. Having a slot in the bridge already, and putting it down in just the right place is harder, IMO, than placing the bridge ballpark and then cutting the slot precisely where you want it to be.

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"...you have to get over your strict adherence to your largely imagined notion of absolute perfection..."

Thanks Paul. I was delighted to find out that carbide bits do a fine job on aluminum as well as wood.

I like to rout the slot with the bridge glued in place because I can get the most accurate saddle location that way. I'm a player as well, and very fussy about proper intonation. It's just easier for me and more accurate to locate the saddle point for each string with the bridge glued in place.

Thanks Paul. I was delighted to find out that carbide bits do a fine job on aluminum as well as wood.

I like to rout the slot with the bridge glued in place because I can get the most accurate saddle location that way. I'm a player as well, and very fussy about proper intonation. It's just easier for me and more accurate to locate the saddle point for each string with the bridge glued in place.