Jonathan - 1-20-2010 at 12:59 PM
Other than stew-mac and lmii, does anybody out there have a source for purfling? Just looking for something different this time around.
Thanks!
jdowning - 1-21-2010 at 05:45 AM
An alternative source is the Canadian company A&M Wood Specialty
http://www.forloversofwood.com/pricelistpurflings.aspx
They carry a limited range of instrument purfling and bindings - probably the same style that is available elsewhere, however (I suspect that all
purfling comes from the same source).
I have always made my own purfling and bindings so cannot vouch for the products available from luthier supply houses - but no doubt they are of good
quality.
Jonathan - 1-21-2010 at 10:04 AM
Thanks. I appreciate the link. I am sure the quality is good, but it seems like all of these places just offer the same purfling styles. Just
hoping to find some different styles.
Thanks again.
FastForward - 1-21-2010 at 03:04 PM
Hi Jonathan,
here is what I have done. I bought a thin veneer sheet (10"x48"x0.05") from Rockler for about $5 each (Rockler has a good selection of veneer with no
backing) and cut the purfling myself using the tool I made (pictured below), its not fancy, but does a good job.
Basically, I used two pieces of scrap plywood. I inserted a thin blade at about 3mm from the edge of one of the pieces (3mm is the width of the
purfling I wanted). I attached the other piece to side as a guide. The blue stuff you see in the picture is a tape that I used to smooth the plywood
so that it glides against the edge of the table which I was using as a guide for cutting.
With this setup I was able to get about 30 purfling strips in about 40-50minutes. I can make it faster by spending more time making a better jig, but
all I needed was like 30 strips and it wasn't worth the effort. Its pretty simple.
The purfling is pretty basic, but I could have done the same with layered sheets of white/black/white or something like that.
Jonathan - 1-21-2010 at 10:11 PM
Thanks. I guess that is an option. I was sort of hoping for something a bit thicker, but I don't have the skills to get what I want on my band saw.
I appreciate the help.
I may try the veneer approach, and see if I can glue up a few and then cut.
Again, thanks a lot.
FastForward - 1-21-2010 at 10:29 PM
Also Jonathan, you can try gurian instruments
http://www.gurianinstruments.com/homepage/
However, they only do whole sale (I think the minimum order is $50 online and like $200 over the phone). The online selection is smaller.
jdowning - 1-22-2010 at 05:44 AM
If you want to get really fancy and unique (and have the patience!) you can create your own purfling or banding using wood strips and rosette sticks
available, already cut to size, from Luthiers Mercantile International.
The method is that used for creating guitar rosettes and matching headstock strips. The rosette sticks are first glued together as a 'log' to the
desired width and pattern (in cross section). Individual 'tiles' of the required thickness are then sliced by hand from the log using a fine toothed
razor (bandsaws will not do the job - the blades are too coarse and will damage the tiles!) and a simple wooden guide to hold the log firmly and saw
square to the log.
The tiles can then be assembled in a straight line with veneer strips (wood or fibre) on either side - or as curved banding (sound board edge or sound
hole inlay) by cutting each tile to a wedge shape (dependant upon the diameter of the curve) and then assembling the tiles in the banding rebate
together with the veneer strips.