Show and Tell. Your homemade jig for sanding saddle.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

I am shocked to discover that I am an amateur.

I'm sorry you had to find out that way, Bruce. My sympathies go out to you.

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

I have a bit of overkill margin as I use a 6 x 108 edge sander. The reason is that the table is square to the belt and the belt is long enough to have no measurable curvature. I first establish the arc of the top of the saddle accurately, which should NEVER need to be further addressed. I do all subsequent work from the bottom.

Bruce, I'm curious about the top of the saddle. What is the correct arc/radius? How do you adjust for players want different variations in the treble-bass height?

Related question...on a guitar that is not new, as in it has been strung up and played for a few years, do you somehow check or flatten the bottom of the bridge slot before sanding the existing saddle or fitting a new one?

[dneal]

Todd - I know you addressed your question to Bruce, but I have been pondering your post about adjusting individual string height, how you're going about it, how I do it, and if there's any real difference in result or just two different roads to the same destination.

When I make a new saddle, I match the radius to the radius of the fretboard (I have a set of StewMac radius gauges), and I use it as a stencil / template for the top of the saddle. I file the top to that reference line which creates the radius.

Next, I eyeball the correct height, using the old saddle as a guide (leaving the new saddle overly high) and get an initial measurement at the high and low E. Then I figure how much I need to lower each E string, mark the increment at each E string location and draw a line through those two reference marks - and file/sand to the line. That last step is what I do if I'm lowering an existing saddle.

[numb fingertips]

Wow, never thought this would be a contentious topic. Thanks for all the ideas to ease the job. So, if it is an existing saddle, and the top is correct, a little sanding from the bottom is good. If making a new saddle from a blank, a more professional job would be start from bottom, but sand the top to fine tune. I was curious, what do you use to file the top. Sorry, never filed top before. Slowly accumulating tools. Does stewmac have a file kit for filing the top that you might recommend?

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by numb fingertips

Wow, never thought this would be a contentious topic. Thanks for all the ideas to ease the job.

With human beings, almost anything can be contentious. ;-)

Originally Posted by numb fingertips

So, if it is an existing saddle, and the top is correct, a little sanding from the bottom is good. If making a new saddle from a blank, a more professional job would be start from bottom, but sand the top to fine tune.

Some people like to think of each string individually and hence prefer to focus on the saddle top. But I am like a great deal of people, who like Bruce stated above, set the saddle top radius first, then work on the saddle bottom. On this point, I do NOT use radius gauges (don't even have one in my shop) but use a pencil line which I scribe from the specific guitar fingerboard extension for which I am making a saddle.

Originally Posted by numb fingertips

Slowly accumulating tools. Does stewmac have a file kit for filing the top that you might recommend?

A 5 to 10 dollar set of standard needle files available at your nearest hardware store is fine. (Or Amazon, for that matter...)

[dneal]

Originally Posted by Ned Milburn

I do NOT use radius gauges (don't even have one in my shop) but use a pencil line which I scribe from the specific guitar fingerboard extension for which I am making a saddle.

DOH!!!

Good idea. That would have saved me $20.

[Rodger Knox]

I'm in the radius the top and then remove from the bottom school of thought.
I use a variable radius on my fingerboards, so the saddle radius is an extrapolation of the fingerboard.
I get the saddle close to the correct height sanding the bottom, but then I set the action of each string individually working the top of the saddle. I suspect this last step might not be necessary with a constant radius board, and I don't do it unless I'm trying to get the action a low as possible.

[murrmac123]

I apologize if I have ruffled any feathers.

I never ever think in terms of a saddle "radius" . When I adjust the action on a customer's guitar, I know exactly what I want the 12th fret height to be on each individual string, and these individual heights (which can vary according to the player's style) can be achieved to an accuracy of .001" if you have the requisite measuring gear. These heights are never any kind of "radius".

I would never presume to tell builders how to go about shaping the saddles on their instruments... I am simply detailing how I do it when a customer brings in a guitar whose action is unsatisfactory , and wants it optimized.

That optimization is never achieved by sanding the base of the saddle.

[SolidSpruceTop]

Often time, sanding the saddles will make them uneven on parts, so what I do is color the bottom with a Sharpie, then sand it on a big file and recolor it until it's all wearing away evenly. Try and be gracious on the sanding before hand so you can perfect the hight with the saddle. Or be clumsy like me and have a stash of thin maple pieces ready

Also, on the tusq saddle on my Alvarez, each end comes up a little and becomes flat. I found that for me, making those two pieces similar height was an easy way to gauge how even it was

[Dan of SC]

Just a sidenote. When I sand a saddle bottom by hand, I have to turn it end to end occasionally to sand it evenly. Same with almost anything I hold in my hand and move back and forth on sandpaper. If i don't I'll always sand one end a little more than the other.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Dan of SC

Same with almost anything I hold in my hand and move back and forth on sandpaper.

If you want something flat, don't move it back and forth on sandpaper. That's the ticket to creating round/domed surfaces.

[Hot Vibrato]

It's always worked best for me to match the fingerboard radius (using a radius gauge) and make adjustments from the bottom of the saddle. Once the high and low E strings are adjusted to their ideal height, the D and G are almost always at their ideal height as well. I guess I assumed everyone does it that way.

In my experience, it's tricky and time consuming to freehand a saddle top to a specific radius, but it's easy to cut the saddle blank to a line that represents the saddle's proposed radius. I suppose this is the main reason to adjust from the bottom of the saddle. The only time I remove material from the top is if I'm removing string grooves, or if I'm re-shaping a saddle which is not radiused correctly.

[Playguitar]

I know exactly what I want the 12th fret height to be on each individual string, and these individual heights (which can vary according to the player's style) can be achieved to an accuracy of .001" if you have the requisite measuring gear.

Murrmac123,

What is the requisite measuring gear that can measure string height to an accuracy of .001"

[Steve Christens]

Well I hesitate to mention this, since it involves the amateurish method of sanding the bottom of the saddle......but I've been using my own version of the "Dickey Saddle Sanding Jig". Works like a charm every time, gives a perfectly flat and square bottom, and makes it a snap to remove more from one end of the saddle than the other. Once you get the saddle mounted in the jig I use sandpaper taped to a flat granite tile. You can't really remove too much with this system, since when the saddle gets flush to the wood of the jig the sanding action slows way down.

http://www.dickeyguitars.com/dickeyg...addlesand.html



From the website:

"Here is a little tool to adjust the saddle height slightly or a lot to
accommodate an undersaddle pickup, real simple. The oak blocks clamp
down on the saddle, via the bolts, allowing the saddle to protrude for removal.
I made it, because it is difficult to hold the small saddle, secondly, it's hard to
hold it square, and thirdly, because I was sanding my fingertips away. Ouch.
I use it with my benchtop beltsander.

The purpose of the business cards
is measurement. Each card is about
.010 inch, so three is .030". You can
even lower one side and not the other
if you wish, by determining what is
needed and arrange the card shims
accordingly. Then you can use a dial
caliper to check the amount of
protrusion, before sanding.

As you sand off the saddle, check frequently, as
soon as the oak block and the saddle are flush,
you are done. A little sandpaper on the outer
edges, once removed, make the saddle perfect."

Or you could purchase a fancy version from Stew Mac for only $179.

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools...le_Sander.html

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by Playguitar

Murrmac123,

What is the requisite measuring gear that can measure string height to an accuracy of .001"

I use pin gauges. They can be used to ascertain initial string height to an accuracy of .001" while the string is in place ... this is a level of accuracy which is unobtainable by using automotive feeler gauges, for several reasons which I won't bother going into here.

While the string is off, and the saddle is being sanded, I use a custom made straight edge which sits in the bottom of the string slot in the nut, and also rests on the saddle ... the measurement at the 12th is taken intermittently (or rather, frequently) using a pin gauge between the 12th fret and the straight edge to tell me when the saddle has been filed down to the correct height.