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Some mitres seem to require very narrow chisels, especially on side purfings.
Where do you find the narrow chisels, or do you just make them?

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Lee Valley.


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You make them - I also find it helps to keep them relatively short. I've had good luck modifying the Grizzly Japanese chisels. It helps if you can cut a purfling miter with a chisel that is exactly the width you need. I've standardized my purfling design for just this reason.

I've used my disc sander for this but a belt sander would work great as well. Whatever you do, make sure you keep the chisel cool so that you don't alter the temper of the steel.

For short handled chisel type tools in various widths you can grind flat gravers to a chisel profile. They wont work very well as gravers at that angle, but if what you need is a small chisel.....

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I find random HSS gravers at the flea market for a buck or two, usually with a handle included.

I've ground such chisels from old files.

How is it that you guys cut these miters. I've just cut miters for purflings on violins, and you just cut, and press them together. I don't worry about it much, because my eyes can't see them! Yeah, when I use the 5X magnifier I can, but I'm not using the magnifier when I cut them. I cut them with a knife on the bench, and then fit them together.

Seeing Bruces post on his mitering job, and jfmckenna talking about the MIRROR TRICK, I know I missing something. But I can't find anything using searches that has a video, or pictures, or for that matter even explains or mentions the trick at all. What is it? Is that why you guys use chisels and not knives?

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Why be normal?

My freind ron at diefenbacher tools sells 2 cherries chisels. t that is 1/16in also pfeil carving tools sells a narrow chisel abt 2 mm woodcraft tools

Hope this helps, about 3:05
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... e=emb_logo

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Thanks for the video Colin! But his demonstration seems a bit off. Like the center seam that Bruce has on his Pear back, the miter isn't 90 degrees. Because the seam is tapered it is a little more where he is working. But I get the idea, and I never saw it before. The problem I noticed with guitars is that the binding is easy to pull away from the end when you come around to gluing the binding on the center bout, even having it taped for the entire upper bout. In purfling channels I haven't ever come across that. Maybe set the end first, and then do the rest?

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Why be normal?

I found one in the carving tools.

The mirror trick is simple. The back of the chisel is of course already polished to a mirror surface, cuz that’s what we do. If you set the edge on the receiving purfling as close as possible to where you want to make the cut, the back of the chiselwill reflect the purfling. Twist the chisel until the reflection goes exactly in the direction the fit piece will go, and that is the correct angle for the cut. Simple, but don’t twitch.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com