Thanks again for your experience and observations. I'm interested in alternate chisels, now that Larry has suggested it, but I decided to go ahead and do this first bridge notching with flat chisels. I used the techniques described by Rod and Craigen above. I'm pleased with the result, but there were some learning moments (as I expected ... this is a learning project, not a commercial job).

Photos of my work are below.

The second photo above shows some of my "learning". On some of the notches in the lower section of the bridge, you can see some markings on the end of the notch. I came to realize that these marks were made by the top of the chisel as it exited the cut. This is from the ridge back of the chisel. I was making the dish cut with the flat side of the chisel facing up. So a different back profile would be better for this work. Also at the fourth unison in the upper section, you can see an awkward transition from dished notching to straight cut notches. I discovered that the length of cut didn't allow for an attractive scooped notch, but aesthetically it would have been better to change at the section break, I think.

Thanks for your encouragement, compliment and additional remarks. Indeed, I finished the notching this evening, and I found technique that would allow me to scoop at the top of the treble. On the lower end, I had found that the chisel with the flat side up worked well, but in the upper treble with shorter working area a nice scoop is produced with the more conventional orientation of the chisel. I then went back and scooped the ones I had cut flat yesterday.

I'm totally convinced that custom chisels would produce a better result more easily.

Larry, can you tell me how to proceed with the custom tool route? I'm guessing the tools you have were made years ago, so this might be a hard question. Above you say that the bridge chisel should have "zero" sweep and a slight scoop. I'll do some googling on that, but can you perhaps also suggest where to go looking for a supplier?

You and everyone here have given me so much!

Thanks!!!!