Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi!

In the past, I made my own bindings and purfling, gluing on side purfling to the binding stock before I resaw strips, but this time I wanted to use Koa, and well, koa is hard to find in rough stock, so I purchased precut bindings from lmii. I'm wondering how to glue the side purfling to it, because these are .090'' thick and most of them are not square cut.

Thanks!
Francis

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Francis,
I typically use WBW purfling that is 3/32"x.060" and I simply run a bead of Titebond (original) down the edge of the binding and then use a Parrot vise to work my way down the length squeezing the purfling tightly to the binding for about 5 seconds for each section. I learned this tecnique from Charles Fox in his ASL two week building class and once you get the hang of it, it's very easy. I then let the glue dry for several hours before thicknessing with my drum sander and then bending in the Fox style bender. I've never had the purfling let go during bending, but I use VERY little water - just a light misting of the craft paper.

Good luck!

Chuck

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"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong"
- Joseph Chilton Pearce

Francis: I do the same a Chuck but use the same binder clips that I use to glue linings to the sides. Wait for glue to dry and run through the sander to get one side cleaned up. Bend dry.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Take a piece of scrap wood 36 inches long, and run a slot in it on the table saw to about 1/4 inch depth, that is slightly wider than your binding is (I use rough .100, then thin to .085 to bend, so my saw balde at .110 is perfect). Line the slot with wax paper, or parchment paper, then set the purfling strip in the bottom of it. Put some glue on the binding, then put that in on top of the purf strip, and then use a bunch of spring clamps to hold it tight. After 15-20 minutes, take it out and make the next one. The slot lines it all up and keeps it straight, doesnt get much easier IMO.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

If I understand your comment about the binding not being "square cut", you need to make one edge square and smooth before you can glue up purfling no matter what glue you use.

I glue purflings with CA, holding the binding/purfling sandwich in place against a wax paper-lined straightedge. It's quick and fool-proof (important for me) and the CA holds up well in bending.

Thanks guys!

I'll probably plane a flat surface and give a try to Tony's method. I think the most difficult will be to cut those .090'' veneer strips whitout breaking them. Fresh sharp blade, i guess.

Thanks!
Francis

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars