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Comment by Darren Addy on July 24, 2014 at 3:35pm

So I salvaged a bunch of black keys from a piano being discarded from a local university. They appear to be real (endangered) ebony. So, I thought I would try to use them for nuts and/or bridges. (I'm a newbie doing my first build, so I just don't know any better). :) Just in case this is helpful to anyone else, I will document my jig build:

The problem? I don't have a bandsaw and I needed to saw them in half. So I rigged up this jig.

Start with a piece of 1/2" plywood. Screw a runner to the bottom of it that perfectly fits your table saw slots. Mine is a scrap of cherry. Leave enough overhang that you can saw the edge with the blade to make it square to the blade.

Next, I cut a short slot to let me know where the cut would be (with the cherry in the appropriate slot). Make the cut a bit longer than your piano key. Cut some 1/2" plywood for the parts that will hold the piano key in the appropriate place relative to the kerf.

I predrilled holes so I could position the pieces perfectly and then drive the short screws into the plywood bed.

See next pic for more...