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Thread: Carbon Fiber for an adjustable bridge saddle

  1. #1
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    Default Carbon Fiber for an adjustable bridge saddle

    I have to make another saddle for my adjustable bridge on the GOM I am building to accomodate different strings. Does it make sense to use carbon fiber instead of ebony? It seems it has the correct characteristics. Has anyone done this?
    Bob Schmidt

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Carbon Fiber for an adjustable bridge saddle

    Carbon fiber is very stiff and durable but it is not have particularly strong compressive strength. I think this would tend to make it a poor choice. Also there are health risks. Working with carbon fiber generates particles that much like asbestos enter the lungs and don't come out. They are sharp and cause scarring. Shaping a saddle would involve generating many more particles than cutting reinforcement rods for a neck and takes longer too.

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  4. #3

    Default Re: Carbon Fiber for an adjustable bridge saddle

    Quote Originally Posted by irishmando View Post
    I have to make another saddle for my adjustable bridge on the GOM I am building to accomodate different strings. Does it make sense to use carbon fiber instead of ebony? It seems it has the correct characteristics. Has anyone done this?
    Other than not being soft or splintery, what sort of characteristics are important?

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  6. #4
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    Default Re: Carbon Fiber for an adjustable bridge saddle

    I've only worked with carbon fiber once. I found it extremely difficult to work, and it kills tools. Ebony will be much easier to work.
    I had not heard of the health risks before, but if you try it, it sounds like a good idea to wear a really good mask.

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  8. #5
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    Default Re: Carbon Fiber for an adjustable bridge saddle

    I’ve made bridge saddles out of black Tusq material and have been very happy with them, especially for livening up overbuilt and heavily lacquered import mandolins. Drawback is that the only place to get that size is directly from the manufacturer.

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  10. #6

    Default Re: Carbon Fiber for an adjustable bridge saddle

    I use carbon fiber or maple interlocking beams on my bridges.
    In both cases, the beam is .125" / 3.0mm wide and about .375" / 9.0mm tall.

    Basically, route a .125" / 3mm groove in a piece of wood and glue in a piece of a pultruded carbon fiber section (or maple prepared from wood selected with the same criteria and grain orientation as a violin bridge). Cheap and easy.

    I use them pretty much interchangeably. None have failed. It also keeps the bridge and base in alignment, so the screw threads are only used for height adjustment, instead of having to align the pieces as well.

    I have not noticed or measured any tonal characteristics distinctly attributable to this design or material choice. My carbon-fiber beam bridges have the same mass but higher saddle stiffness when compared to a normal Loar-era bridge. The maple-beam ones are a couple grams lighter and a little less stiff. It comes out in the wash.

    The only down side is that I have to explain to customers all the time, "Yes, you can adjust your bridge. Yep, I know there's carbon fiber in there. That doesn't make it non-adjustable. Please just try adjusting it, it'll work just like I promised. Nope, it's not magic."

    This is an old rendering before I finalized the design, but shows the idea.
    Click image for larger version. 

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  12. #7

    Default Re: Carbon Fiber for an adjustable bridge saddle

    Good engineering, Marty, and doesn’t look bad either! In a nearby post, the question of a leaning Eastman bridge, more on the treble side, is raised by an OP. Your design takes care of that issue. Also note that you use plain nuts instead of thumbwheels, which I also like since people don’t really need to adjust that frequently, if ever, so there’s no need to make the adjustment visually prominent.

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  14. #8

    Default Re: Carbon Fiber for an adjustable bridge saddle

    Yep, adjustable under tension using a small wrench as well. Thumbwheels are the worst. Equal credit goes to David Cohen and Vern Brekke for the idea.

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  16. #9
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    Default Re: Carbon Fiber for an adjustable bridge saddle

    The qualities I was refering to were light weight and strength. I was not aware of the health issues, at least I would not have thought it worse then fiberglass. The bridge height for one of my GOM's with a straight edge across the frets is 16mm so I was concerned the saddle would be a bit too thin. These are the first bridges I have made, and I had several pieces of ebony chip while cutting the intonation slots, so I thought CF would be a better alternative.
    Bob Schmidt

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