Day 171: From Beech to Cherry, the Bridge Saga Continues

After completely destroying the last set of bridges on the band saw and with the spokeshave, I had a short conversation with Kevin Spindler, a builder who resides on the East Coast. We talked about materials and techniques and he reminded me how the Old Guys used cherry for their bridges and that he had used it for an eight foot bridge and he was quite happy with the tonal result. Rather than split the new ones between beech and cherry, I just used cherry for both.

But first, let me explain how I ruined the last ones. When I was cutting them on the band saw, I had forgotten to reset the blade tension when I switched from a 3/8" to a newer, sharper 1/4" blade. This resulted in a blade that swam around in the wood, which is never a good thing. The outcome was particularly bad for the four foot and I ended up crossing a cut line and could not save the poor, little guy. I destroyed the eight foot by spokeshaving to the wrong cut line, resulting in a 1/8" top, rather than 1/4".

Both of these mistakes speak to preparation and careful consideration before engaging in anything in the shop. In the case of the band saw blade, it was thoroughness that got me. The spokeshaving came about during a lunch break in which I dove in with abandon without first triple-checking my cut. Granted, it happens, but both of these instances were preventable with a little more preparation and circumspection. You gotta have goals, right?

The good news is that I'm now pretty good at making bridges - at least the cutting to length/width/height, steaming and bending parts. I've grown to love the steaming process. It takes time and patience, both of which I have in minute quantities, so it teaches me to relax into the process every time I steam something. And it's fun to bend wood, so there you go.

The first step to getting the bridges into shape is to cut the planks down to length and width. I don't have a setup that will immediately accommodate cutting long boards to length. Well, not without hauling out the chop saw and setting it up. In this case, it was much easier for me to pull out the new Japanese rip/crosscut (Ryoba) saw and get to work.

Then, I cleaned up the plank sides using the new Veritas jointer plane.

It's really nice when a plan comes together. My intent with the new plane and saw purchases was to use more hand tools, less electricity. In this case, it worked.

Then, I carpet-taped the cherry board to a guide plank and cut the bridges to the required widths/angles. The eight foot runs from 3/4" to 1/2" over 55" and the four footer runs 1/2" to 1/4" over 43".

Into the steambox they went.

And then onto the bending form.

It seems like deja vu all over again, doesn't it? Rather than subject them both to the band saw when they come off the form, I'll be spokeshaving their bevels. I just feel more comfortable doing it this way and the new Veritas spokeshave works through wood like a hot knife through butta.

On a tangentially related note, I recently acquired a miniature Veritas spokeshave that I'll use to bevel the bridges on their high sides (or the bevels facing the player). These bevels will be the platforms for string guide pins and I'll shave them down using the little fella below after I've glued the bridges to the soundboard.

As I said on the Book of the Face, the spokeshave had a wee, little baby. It's tiny, but it's razor-sharp and will work perfectly for its intended use.

Until next time...