Double Bass Bridge Top Thinning

[Cody Sisk]

I must reluctantly admit that I'm overly-proficient at thinning a bridge with a 6" stationary belt sander with a hand scraped finish. Current shop space dictates that I don't have room for this ginormous, noisy and messy machine.

I've just purchased a Lie Nielsen 9 1/2. Yes, be jealous. I really want to start using it for thinning bridges.

My question: those of you thinning bridges with planes, do you use a jig to hold your bridge? Do you just palm the bridge? What's your method?

I did some thread searching but came up empty. If there are any threads that might help, please excuse my poor skimming skills..

 

[JoeyNaeger]

Matthew Tucker has an excellent jig for holding bridges which I promptly copied. I can try and snag a pic of mine tomorrow or maybe he will step in. When there is a lot of wood to take off, I use a big gouge with a flat sweep followed by a plane set for a mediumish cut. From there, I can usually file it smooth and sand. I find this only takes a few minutes to do. The 9 1/2 is a beautiful plane...enjoy!

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Not my fixture but pix of someone else's. Here you go:

 

[uprightben]

I palm it and use the edge of the bench as a stop. The problem is that the bench can leave dents, so I have to be extra careful on the last round of thinning. Honestly the above pictured jig looks pretty good, I might try that out.