Show and Tell. Your homemade jig for sanding saddle.

[numb fingertips]

Sorry, I don't have my own to show. I wanted to make a simple jig to help with sanding a saddle down. I figured I would pick the brains of the members to make it easier. Do you have a homemade jig for sanding the saddle? How and what did you make it with?
Thanks for all the help.

[L20A]

If you are just sanding the bottom of the saddle to lower it, I use an emery board resting on a flat surface.
Sandpaper will also work.

[Treenewt]

Mine is pretty simple.

A flat surface.

A good piece of sandpaper.

Elbow grease and a watchful eye.


Keep it flat, don't rock it back and forth, and take your time. I do have a set of digital calipers that I use to measure my progress so I don't go too far.

[numb fingertips]

That's how I've been doing it. I put a line on and sand carefully to the line. I was thinking if I had a jig that would hold it tight at the line, it would go faster and I couldn't mess up.

[devellis]

I slide the ruler out of the triangular portion of a combination try-square and use the long side of the cast metal frame as a fence.

So, side of saddle firmly against the try-square frame, bottom edge of the saddle firmly on a piece of sandpaper affixed to a nice flat chunk of granite countertop, and then a lot of back-and-forth until I reach the desired height.

[Steve DeRosa]

A vacuum vise and a set of progressively finer files and sandpaper...

[Earl49]

I sand mine by hand using sandpaper on a flat polished piece of scrap counter top granite. You can glue the sandpaper down for convenience, but it isn't required.

Be careful to keep the saddle upright so you get a flat and square bottom, especially if this is going on top of a under-saddle transducer.. And go slow. Then go slower still.... I only do 8-10 strokes at a time before test fitting it into the bridge again, working slowly against my pencil mark. Learned this lesson the hard way.

Don't be surprised if this thread gets moved to "Build and Repair" by the moderators soon.

[j.blay]

Bob Colosi provides good instructions with his saddles. Given my shop experience, I chose to use a makeshift jig. Pictures:

[news_watch]

Originally Posted by devellis

I slide the ruler out of the triangular portion of a combination try-square and use the long side of the cast metal frame as a fence.

So, side of saddle firmly against the try-square frame, bottom edge of the saddle firmly on a piece of sandpaper affixed to a nice flat chunk of granite countertop, and then a lot of back-and-forth until I reach the desired height.

Use this with a flat counter top piece (Lowe's or HD will give you a smaller piece) and you should be set if you want to take it down evenly across the saddle.
I like the idea of using the square. I had not thought of that to keep it upright.

NW

[wrathfuldeity]

some digital caliper helps track how much you are taking off

[Brucebubs]

I've made my own bone saddles for all my guitars.
I buy bone blanks and reproduce the radius and any compensation tooling from the original.
I use a Dremel tool with a small sanding attachment to get the basic shape and small files and fine sandpaper.
If I need to take a fair amount off the saddle, I clamp a flat file in the jaws of a vice and use this to get the height close.
I then use sandpaper on a flat surface.
I use a set of Vernier Calipers with a digital readout to make all my measurements.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by devellis

I slide the ruler out of the triangular portion of a combination try-square and use the long side of the cast metal frame as a fence.

So, side of saddle firmly against the try-square frame, bottom edge of the saddle firmly on a piece of sandpaper affixed to a nice flat chunk of granite countertop, and then a lot of back-and-forth until I reach the desired height.

Great idea. Wish I'd thought of it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by numb fingertips

Sorry, I don't have my own to show. I wanted to make a simple jig to help with sanding a saddle down. I figured I would pick the brains of the members to make it easier. Do you have a homemade jig for sanding the saddle? How and what did you make it with?
Thanks for all the help.

Hi nf...

The top surface of my workbench is level. I sand only one direction and flip the saddle around every few strokes and check it for even sanding and level.

These days my guitars are all setup (have been for years) so the ones I typically see which even need saddle work (last step in a setup process) are student's or friend's instruments.

Before I ever touch a saddle, the nut slot depth and neck relief are set, and often the saddle doesn't need much at all.




*

[fazool]

I have an old chemistry bench as a second workbench and it has one of those black counter-top like surfaces. It's not granite but its impervious to many chemicals and its smooth. It can be scratched and gouged if I'm not careful. I put a sticky-back 3M sandpaper on it, place a nice square object as a fence and sand by hand. No jig or fixture needed, just patience and a watchful eye.

[murrmac123]

Sanding the bottom of the saddle to adjust the action is the ultimate DIY amateur process.

The correct method is to adjust the action for each string by filing from the top.

The base of the saddle needs to be flat and straight, but once that initial flatness is achieved, it never needs to be touched again.