Making a Baroque cello bridge

A method that allows the luthier to create their own design rather than rely on a pre-cut template

TRADESECRETS

Makers reveal their special techniques

There are many ways to cut a Baroque-style bridge, and in this article I will demonstrate how I cut and design one for a cello. This specific design is one I learnt while working for William Monical & Son in New York. Throughout the years I have found it works well for my clients who practise historical instrument performance (HIP).It creates the projection that a player would want while also letting the musician mould sound and create colours in the space around them.

In this article I present only one way of cutting a Baroque bridge, although there are many other styles and techniques that can produce a successful example. While cutting a Baroque bridge from scratch is more time-consuming than buying one that’s already been cut, there’s also a lot of freedom that comes with designing your own bridge. You can use the ideas and requirements you discuss with your client to form your own design, which might otherwise be hindered by a pre-cut bridge.

1 I start with bridge blanks that are cut out of a large piece of hard maple. More recently I have found a company that can cut the wedges for me. This has saved me quite a bit of time and I am happy with the quality of the wood.

Bridge blanks

ALL PHOTOS SARAH PECK

2a Setting the table angle

2b Cutting a wedge

2 I set the table on my bandsaw to the angle I want (2a), and then saw out the blank (2b).

3a Feet width cut out

3b Fitting the feet to the cello

2 When the wedge is cut out, I plane the lower third to my final thickness for the feet. To figure out the width of the bridge feet, you can either use a bridge blank that you have lying around, see where it falls on the bass-bar and go from there; or, using a ruler and some gauges, plan out the bridge feet width mathematically. I then cut out the feet so I can fit the bridge on to the cello. Bear in mind as you are fitting feet that you cannot ‘spread’ them with a tool, so you will have to gauge this by eye.

Once I have finished fitting the feet, I continue to prepare my bridge for the final design. This includes thicknessing the top of the bridge, then setting the final string heights – which is crucial at this point, because all my future design decisions will be based on this measurement.

Various cello-style bridges

4 I am fortunate to have a box of old bridges, a nd I use these to come up with my final shape. Even though most cellos are standardised, there are slight variations that become known when one designs a bridge from scratch, as shown in the photo. If you are coming up with your own template, keep in mind areas that might cause cracks or breakages in the future.

I’m often asked why there is a funny little ‘fish tail’ carving at the top arch of the legs. The photo shows how the series of bridges on the left have a hard angle cut into their design, which caused breakage along the grain lines. So the idea of having a continuous curve helped solved this problem.

5a Reference lines

5b Kidney and leg drawing

5c Using templates for the design

5d Completed design drawn on to bridge

5 Once I have my template in hand, I draw reference li nes on the bridge blank (5a). I always start with the treble side of the bridge (maybe because I am right-handed). I draw the first kidney and leg shape, and then draw another reference line for the bass side so I can place the other kidney and leg symmetrically (6b). From here on, it’s a matter of using some circle templates to draw the design.

Cutting out on scroll saw

6 Now it is time to cut out the bridge. I use a scroll saw for this because, due to the number of bridges I cut from blanks, it was the quickest and most costeffective way for me. Of course, you can cut them out by hand or even on a bandsaw fitted with a small blade.

7a Various tools for final shaping

7b Two stages of bridge completion

7 At this point, using my hand plane I thickness t he bridge to its final dimensions. This is also the time when I can fit the bridge on to the instrument, try it and get a sense of how it might sound and what kind of tuning I can achieve while completing the final carving and cleaning-up of the bridge.