Official Luthiers Forum!

A newbie asking a stupid question.
Why do you need a teflon strip when using shell purflings and rosettes. Can
you just intall it like others and sand to final thickness or will the shell not
sand and therefore the channel depth has to be the thickness of the shell???

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

I have installed abalone rosettes both ways and I have found it much easier to do it with the teflon strips.
Basically the strip just holds the space for the abalone which is installed after the purflings are dry.
The shell does "sand" although it is much harder than the top wood-so it is advisable to inlay it just a hair above or flush with the top.
I hope this helps.
BradBrad Goodman38573.4998611111

Sounds like a good question to me. As brad said it is perfectly possible to sand. The idea of the teflon is if for instance you are trying to make a rosette with Black and white purfling around the outside, it can be pretty fiddly to work the purflings and the pieces of shell at the same time.

If you remove the teflon carefully it can be reused, so you don't have to buy teflon every time. Just be careful it doesn't stretch or you could wind up eith a channel that varies in width.

Another trick I use when doing Ablam is to use straight strips of ablam (as here they are half the cost, I break them gently into the channel to form the curves.

If you use abalam try to set it near fluss as when you sand it whats underneath is sometimes not as pretty as the surface.

I guess the nature of a laminate material.

I don't use the teflon in the rosettes. find it realatively easy to do without them here... however, for the edge purflings it is the way to go.

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

I've been using a technique suggested to me by Michael Keller. Basically, it is to build the rosette on a circular form, independent of the top. Then when dry, inlay it as a unit into the top. No teflon needed.

Just another way to skin a cat....

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

HI Steve thats interesting whan is the form like, and what is it made of ?

I only ask because I have experimented but had difficulty with sticking the rosette to the form.

Hi Russell,
Conventional stuff, but coated well. I build around a disc of Masonite, or something very like it, which is wrapped in plastic tape. Add to that a coat of wax. The floor of the form is covered with something we in the States call Contact Paper. It is a plastic, self-adhesive material, and I use the clear. Wax paper would work as well. Occasionally I get some adherance problems, but these scrape off quite easily.

Not as much trouble as it sounds--plus I like the idea of having the whole thing done before going to the guitar's top.

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Oh yes, here's a picture of it.

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

AND!!! Bo Walker, our esteemed president of LINT, came up with an even better arrangement:



You can find the whole thing written up, if you like, at the LINT website. Go to www.lint.org, look at the side menu, and check out the Tips section.

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Thanks Steve

I really like your jig my method uses channels and it has been known for me to get the rosette stuck in it.

Thanks for the help

You're welcome, guys. Did I mention that the whole thing is layed up dry? It is, and then when all the parts--bands, pearl, whatever--look perfect, the assembly is flooded with super glue. To help in "roundness", as well in adhesion problems, there is a band of plastic that wraps around the rosette which also distributes the pressure from the clamps.

I dunno... building one of these may be more trouble than it's worth! But I've already got this one, so I'll keep using it. I like the results I get from it.

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com