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Place the nut blank on the 3/16" flat of the neck and mark
the ends where the nut overhangs the sides of the fretboard .
Draw a sharp line across the fretboard surface onto the
nut .
Remove the nut and draw another line 5/64" above the one
showing the fretboard height . Clamp the nut in a vise, or
butt it up against a bench stop made of wood fastened to
the work surface . File the nut down to the higher pencil line .
The 5/64" height above the fretboard leaves enough room
for string slots 1/32" deep to hold the strings above the fret
tops . The clearance between the bottom of the strings and
the top of the first fret will be .016" . This is a roughed-in spec,
later you may lower it as desired .
Cut out the paper nut and bridge templates provided, and
use them to lay out the shapes and string positions exactly .
Center the template on the nut, and use a sharp pencil to
mark the string slots .
Trace the bridge shape from the paper template onto the
blank, and cut the contours on the ends and the underside .
Sand the curves smooth .
String tension, not glue, holds the bridge to the top . The
bridge bottom needs to fit the curved top . To get a good fit,
sand the bottom of the bridge by laying a strip of 150-grit
sandpaper on the top, and move the bridge back and forth
Fit the bridge
Scratch starter notches into the pencil marks with a sharp
scribe, and then use your smallest razor saw or nut file to
begin the slots . The three nut file sizes we use on a man-
dolin nut are: .042" (G string); .028" (D string); .016" (A and
E strings) .
A set of gauged saws is the ideal way to cut string slots, but
one single saw can do the whole job . Our .015" Gauged Saw
will cut the E & A slots easily, and then by rolling the saw
from side to side you can enlarge the slots for the heavier
strings .
File the string notches straight downward (don’t drift to
the side, which would change the spacing) until the slots
meet the “rough-in” specs . From that point leave the slots
alone until the bridge is fitteds and notched and you have
strings installed .
on it sideways . With short strokes, sand the shape of the top
into the bridge feet . The correct location for the bridge is
13-61/64" from the nut edge (closest to the bridge) to the
bridge edge (closest to the nut) .
Using the paper template for reference, lay out and cut the
string notches in the bridge . The proper depth is one-half
the diameter of each string .
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