Day 154: Cutting the Nuts

As I explained in my previous post, cutting the bridges and nuts go hand-in-hand because they represent two parts of a whole when it comes to stringing the instrument. As you know, I cut the bridges first. As a building newbie, I must admit I would have preferred to have cut the nuts first, mainly because they're shorter. But, what is done is done and now both the 8' and 4' bridges and nuts have been cut, beveled, and scraped into submission.

The interesting thing about the nuts and bridges is that they mirror each other. I mentioned the diminishing cuts in my past post. Well, these happen the opposite way on the nuts from the bridges. This is so that strings can clear the proper structures (particularly the 8' clearing the 4' bridge) on the soundboard. Now that they're completed, I can get on with mounting them onto the soundboard, as well as gluing up the bottom bracing.

On an unrelated note, a Bosch router for the table saw router extension came into Tortuga Early Instruments Worldwide Headquarters last week. Interestingly, it came with an adjustable sleeve, so the one I purchased previously has been rendered completely useless. This rankles quite a bit considering the fact I tried my best to save money over buying one of the fancy schmancy $500-$1,000 router raising gadgets. I may try to sell it or just hold onto it for the future.

Now, I must drill the holes and mount the thing into the extension insert. I'll be accomplishing this over the coming week, but I have no idea when - temperatures are reaching 106 degrees here today and I don't have an air conditioner in the shop. I'll get it in when it gets in, right?

Until next time...