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I have discovered that plastic purfling works better if I am going to dye wood binding because it scrapes to a bright white unlike wood purfling. Unfortunately, LMI's multi-line purfling is only .060" tall. That just leaves no room for error, and means the max thickness binding that can sit on top is less than a 1/16". I prefer starting with .080" binding.

Does anyone know of a source for multi-line purfling (BWB, WBW, BW) that allows for slightly wider binding to sit on top (.080" for eg)?

Bill James at:

http://www.axinc.net/Default.asp

Haans

I have been jonesing for some ivoroid to make a radial ring in a rosette, but I just can't get around his $33 extra shipping charge for small quantities. Do you know of any others?

That's what UPS or FedEx charges for shipping hazardous materials regardless of volume, unless it takes multiple packages in which case it's that much additional per package.

Martin's Guitarmaker's Connection used to ship it without a hazardous surcharge but doesn't even offer it anymore.

I've bought "ivoriod" celluloid from Chinese suppliers on Ebay. What I got was celluloid, costs a lot less, but looked terrible. I only lost about $10 and had to wait 2 weeks for it to show up but YMMV.

In terms of plastic B/W, BWB, etc. have you tried calling Martin? https://www.martinguitar.com/1833-shop/#!/c91

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Bill Jame's stuff looks great, but out of my price range. $20 per strip (need 4 for a guitar) and $33 surcharge for shipping? Just want some laminated .020" B/W PVC cut into clean strips 60" long and .080" tall.

I'll call Martin. You never know.

Nope.
The reason Stew-Mac got out of celluloid was Haz-Met. Bill took over. I was fortunate to live in the neighborhood, but the only way to really order it by UPS, USPS, etc. is in quantity.
I've been out of building for years, but I know Bill and what he charges is not out of reason. Many builders out of state buy from him because he is the only source that I know of for celluloid. You wouldn't believe what a sheet of that stuff costs...
If you want plastic, Stew-Mac sells it. You might have to glue it up and cut it yourself.

Could you laminate something to the back of what you're currently using to get the thickness you need? If I understand correctly, that part of the purfling will be hidden anyway, right? Maybe I misunderstood.

Or just make one cut for the .060" purfling and one cut for the .080" binding. Again, maybe I'm not following what you're meaning.

Hope that helps.

_________________
sweat the small stuff.

So, You are actually talking about the height of the strip.

I buy the .250 height strips from LMI and cut them in half on my bandsaw.

after the saw kerf this leaves me about .110 on each half.

When I cut them I put a sacrificial board (zero clearance) under and clamp a guide fence for the width.

So if you buy a strip for $3.50 you are only paying $1.75 for each strip.

I used to buy large sheets of laminated ABS (24'" X54") and cut tons of strips myself from a company called Leathertone, but they are no longer in business.

Yes, the purfling that shows on the SIDE of the guitar. The height of the purfling should match the thickness of the binding. The binding sits on top of it.

I have been laminating sheets of veneer to my binding wood before cutting into strips. But I recently did a guitar where I scraped a tinted coat off the bindings. On the top purfling (where I had used plastic) I got nice bright white lines. Where I had used veneer as purfling on the sides the white was dull and uneven.

Hence I was looking for plastic purfling that is as tall as my binding is wide.

I wish I did know of a place that would laminated sheets of PVC in .020” thick B/W layers. Then I could cut slices whatever size I needed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

If you have a commercial cabinet shop near you you could beg or buy (costs them about a nickle a foot) a couple dozen feet of thin (.020) inch wide (15/16) black, white, and many other color PVC edgebanding. You could laminate it yourself and cut the thickness you need.
For a little more per foot check with Rockler. They sold it in 25 ft lengths (standard roll is 600 ft.).