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Where do you get your Teflon purfling strips?
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Author:  jfmckenna [ Fri Jan 25, 2019 11:03 am ]
Post subject:  Where do you get your Teflon purfling strips?

Looking in all the usual places i don't see any strips available in 1/8th inch. Or do you just use two of the 1/16th in strips?

Author:  Pegasusguitars [ Fri Jan 25, 2019 11:43 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Where do you get your Teflon purfling strips?

I buy 12" wide sheets of .063 teflon from MSC on the web. I stick it down to 1/8" ply with contact cement and rip it into strips on the tablesaw with a fine blade.. I use .063 and .098 widths, so a single strip cut .098 wide works for both sizes. The teflon peels off the ply easily and the contact cement strips right off with your thumbnail. Makes for cheap strips.

Author:  jfmckenna [ Fri Jan 25, 2019 2:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Where do you get your Teflon purfling strips?

Pegasusguitars wrote:
I buy 12" wide sheets of .063 teflon from MSC on the web. I stick it down to 1/8" ply with contact cement and rip it into strips on the tablesaw with a fine blade.. I use .063 and .098 widths, so a single strip cut .098 wide works for both sizes. The teflon peels off the ply easily and the contact cement strips right off with your thumbnail. Makes for cheap strips.


I don't have the equipment for that but out of curiosity is your saw blade good enough to finish it off or do you run it through a sander? Can the stuff be sanded? I could conceivably make strips off my band saw but then would need to thickness accurately.

Author:  Pegasusguitars [ Fri Jan 25, 2019 10:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Where do you get your Teflon purfling strips?

Using a good sharp carbide 7 1/4" blade on a 10" tablesaw, I can get useable strips right off the saw. Takes a bit of trial and error to get the width exactly right, but once it's set I cut lots of strips. You could not do it on a bandsaw. I don't know of a way that you could run it through a sander either.

Author:  Colin North [ Sat Jan 26, 2019 5:47 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Where do you get your Teflon purfling strips?

jfmckenna wrote:
Pegasusguitars wrote:
I buy 12" wide sheets of .063 teflon from MSC on the web. I stick it down to 1/8" ply with contact cement and rip it into strips on the tablesaw with a fine blade.. I use .063 and .098 widths, so a single strip cut .098 wide works for both sizes. The teflon peels off the ply easily and the contact cement strips right off with your thumbnail. Makes for cheap strips.


I don't have the equipment for that but out of curiosity is your saw blade good enough to finish it off or do you run it through a sander? Can the stuff be sanded? I could conceivably make strips off my band saw but then would need to thickness accurately.

Veneer thicknesser would be work
https://theartoflutherie.com/the-veneer-thicknessing/

Author:  Pmaj7 [ Sat Jan 26, 2019 6:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Where do you get your Teflon purfling strips?

I don't think Teflon would work in something like that. The pieces that I've had are kind of flimsy and a bit stretchy. I have done plastic and wood in a shop made version and they worked great.

New username, same Pat Mac

Author:  Clay S. [ Sat Jan 26, 2019 7:55 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Where do you get your Teflon purfling strips?

If you go to the MSC website and search UHMW (ultra high molecular weight) plastic you can find it listed in 1/8 inch thickness sheets. Since only one dimension is critical (thickness) you could probably cut strips on the bandsaw.
If I needed a thinner piece I might try milling it with a router setup and then cutting it into strips.

Author:  doncaparker [ Sat Jan 26, 2019 9:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Where do you get your Teflon purfling strips?

Clay is touching on something that I think is useful to consider. Teflon is a brand name for PTFE plastic. I think what people sell as Teflon in guitar building might actually be UHMW or something similar. Teflon might have turned into a name we use loosely for all such similar products, like Band-Aid for a bandage or Coke for a carbonated beverage.

UHMW is easy to get in lots of sizes, and it can be machined from there. Thickness sanding on a drum sander might cause a melting concern, but if you send it through fast and take light passes, maybe it will work. I know you can cut it with table saw blades, bandsaw blades and router bits. You can also hand sand it, file it, etc.

With the bandsaw, the nibs and junk on the underside of the workpiece (the exit side of the blade) can be annoying, but you can scrape those off.

Author:  jfmckenna [ Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Where do you get your Teflon purfling strips?

Clay S. wrote:
If you go to the MSC website and search UHMW (ultra high molecular weight) plastic you can find it listed in 1/8 inch thickness sheets. Since only one dimension is critical (thickness) you could probably cut strips on the bandsaw.
If I needed a thinner piece I might try milling it with a router setup and then cutting it into strips.

Ah good point. That should work.

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