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Okay, so I'm gonna make a simple mahog/spruce OM to donate...I had a herringbone rosette laying around and have put that into the top...I decided to order a couple of strips of herringbone to use as purfling and just need to know how to bend it...do I soak it or bend it like binding? Also, I know this is a dumb question, but which way should it point? Arrows CW or CCW or out from the f/b extension meeting at the tailblock? TIA.

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

   Neither , it joins at the tail in the center. You want to start with a nice little diamond then they point opposite and head toward the neck
john

<<<<<<<<|>>>>>>> ;>

LanceK38694.5563078704

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

As for "how to bend it", it depends on the curve. They can be bent dry if the curves are not too severe. Otherwise bend along with bindings (taped tightly together) in the bender.Arnt38694.5631712963

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I don't think there is any "right" way to do the herringbone purfling, only "convention". I just did a herringbone purfling and rosette and my herringbone purfling goes around in one direction. I matched the "arrows" up at the tail block so it looks like one piece. Sure, it goes in opposite directions when viewing
the guitars bass and treble side, but so does the rosette. I matched the direction of the "arrows" to match the direction of "arrows" in the rosette. Of course at 52 I'm still I'm a bit of a wayward child.

Don't even think about wetting down herringbobne purfling and bending in a bender. It's flexible enough to fit in as you glue in with the binding. If it's a cut-away I imagine you'd have to cut and mitere at the cut-away.

Its flexible as binding but NOT flexible if bent as purfling. I just installed it on my guitar. On the first strip I spritzed it with water, heated it lightly on my bender and put it between two templates (male and female) until it dried. It didn't bend easily. The second strip I soaked it in hot water for five minutes, placed it between the templates to hold it and that strip bent much easier, and held the shape very well when removed.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Maybe it's bendablilty depends on the type of herringbone. I used the LMI fine herringbone rosette and purfling and had no trouble fitting it at all on an OM. A thicker purfling, I imagine, would be more difficult. Never heard of herringbone used as a binding.

I bend it dry in my bender and it holds together fine. My troubles came when I tried to bend it with water... then it delaminated.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I didn't use it as binding either, I just meant that it bent easily in that direction. With it laying flat, though, I found it hard to bend right and left. I don't know how wide mine was, but it was a challenge. It bent well, with no cracks, just hard to keep it flat while bending sideways.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

I like to use half herringbones with one bordering side removed (or omitted
if I make it myself, which is always these days)--this makes them much
more flexible, and I put them together on the guitar with a center solid line
to make a whole herringbone. I've found that there's no real advantage to
the final look from heat bending. Just breaking them into place cold and dry
actually works well.Howard Klepper38694.6389467593

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I used to split them in half with a razor blade (actually quite easy to do) and then re-glue them in place, that is until Mario set me straight. Now I just start at the tail and glue'm in using the binding as a clamping cawl to keep'm snug. That is unless I get a wild hair and decided to change the color of the lines inside the herringbone, then I still split them and add in new colored fibers.John How38694.6449884259

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

I used to do as John said, but I'm clumsier than John. I broke far too many, when I was, say, 2/3 the way through. (I'd always break through the white center line.) I have found that the h'bone from LMI bends quite easily, and I was able to bend it by hand for a venetian cutaway.
What I use is a hot bending iron with those two little strips that clamp on to the pipe, which help distribute the heat all through the strip. LMI sells 'em.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

THAT'S the way I'm gonna do it! Thanks man!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Terence, that is identical to what I did. Worked well.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......