Pinless Bridge Construction

[Carl Dickinson]

Been making five bridges out of Manzanita and took some pics.
Lots of it was done on the drill press set on the highest speed (3500 rpm).
Laid out the string holes to 2 7/16" spread, 7/64" holes about 3/4" deep and then routed a 3/8" wide slot across the face of the holes with a round tip box core bit. The cross slide vise holds the pieces upright to do this.

bridge 1.jpg (342.73 KiB) Viewed 3155 times

Layout for grooves.

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Groove setup.

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Two grooves completed.

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Grooving finished.

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Sander setup to thickness bridge ends.

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Saddle grooving jig.

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Done, after shaping top and edges and sanding to 120.

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Did you notice the bottom one has a Gibson shape? Sometimes there's a way to fix a mistake. .

[John Parchem]

Those are really cool, especially making a milling machine with the drill press and a cross vise. Also the jig with the belt sander for the wings.

[peter havriluk]

Nifty! Thanks for documenting it.

[Carl Dickinson]

I thought about adding this to another pinless bridge thread that Dave had lots of thoughts on. Also on ANZLF.com, that thread and another by Tony in NY City were referred too, http://anzlf.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9609.
Still need to try adding some slots for easier string changes.
Thanks for the compliments.

[Kevin in California]

Sweet bridges. I like the idea of a pinless bridge. Thats how ive always shaped my wings too. The only use for my small belt sander.

[Carl Dickinson]

I use that same belt sander jig to thickness the back of pegheads too. If you're careful with the initial thickness calculations, a volute can be created as part of that sanding.
Hey, Kevin , these 105 degree days have sure been different from a month ago haven't they! How are you doing down there in Fresno? Since I have a swamp cooler in my main shop area it's hard to maintain any build humidity, but one room has a dehumidifier where most assembly work is done.

[Kevin in California]

I now do the peg head final thicknessing and volute on the oscillating drum sander with a fence. I made up about 15 bridge blanks the last time i made them and used the belt sander.
If i need to make more bridges i might try it on the oscillating drum.

Yeah the heat has been a problem for me here. Rotating wall fan and a small evaporative cooler in the shop helps but once it reaches 100 and sometimes less...I'm done for the day.
Looking forward to temps in the 70's again.