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Made up some purflings and bindings with purflings this week, and cut up my guitar this weekend. CA is my friend now. Several little booboos were corrected quickly using it. Only on the Zebra Wood though. Talk about tough to chisel. This stuff doesn't have splenters, it has swords and thorns. Get a chisel in one of those grain lines, and Look Out!

Started by gluing up some purfling for the top. Here I'm cleaning up the edges so I can cut it on the saw.

Here is what I ended up with. The wide purflings with the rope, or whatever you call that stuff, will be on the top. the narrow ones on the back, and you can see, I added side puifs to the binding, and end piece.

Here, I'm cleaning up the side purflings on the binding.

Here's a "Sidebar'. I had bought some pipe clamps to make a body vice for the guitar, but the clamps, instead of screwing on, slipped on at the end of the pipe with locking rings. Great if you are using them as clamps. Not so great for making a guitar vice. The heads would slip around the pipe, so I had to drill holes and tap them for set screws to keep them from sliding around on the end of tha pipe. Couple of pictures.

Next, I scribed and cut out the channel for my end strip.


Next, I made a scraper blade for my circle cutter / purfling cutter. I remember, Shawn, I think, mentioning in a post that Romanillos used a scraper type blade on the side of the guitar instead of a sharp edged blade, because the scraper does not tend to follow the grain so quickly, and it is easierr to keep it on course. What I did was grind the teeth off of an old jigsaw blade, and the hone the 45* angle, and the flat edge where the teeth were. I sharpened the angle last, and that created a bit of a hook on the flat edge. That is the scraper. It makes a groove just over 1mm wide. It is great. I had no problems with it veering off into the grain, even in Zebra Wood. I didn't take a picture of the blade, but here is a test slot I did.

Next post please!

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Then, I started scraping the side slots at the depth of the bindings and side purflings.

Here are the side slots cut, then a close-up. You can also see the Guitar Vice holding the guitar.

Here, I have chiseled out the purfling ledge and the binding channel on the back of the guitar.

One more post to finish up the days work today.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Something happened on that last post, and my Text for the end strip got zapped. I should have previewed it. Also that last picture in that post should have been, and is, the first one in this post. Don't know what I left out. Oh, Well! Saw it just too late to edit it.

Next, I measured the binding and pufling for the top, and used the sharp edged blade to score the top the correct depth for the purfling, and in the right amount. Here I am cutting the purfling ledges in the top.

And here is the top ready for bindings and purflings.


I may still have a little cleaning up to do, but for the most part it is ready to go. I did make an error on the back, and have to add a strip to the binding to make it a bit thicker. It shouldn't be a problem, as it will just look like another line of purfling. I think this process was about as intense as anything I have done since I started. I had a couple of split out's when I was chiseling the binding channels on the back edge, but they were easily repaired with CA. I never would have thought of that until OLF. In the Zebra wood, the repairs are invisible, thank goodness.

Thanks for looking again.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

excellent craftsmanship Waddy! you are really taking your time and doing this the old school way with hand cutting those channels. You didnt mention how long this took you, but I can bet it was quite a while. I'm sure the end result will be impecable also.

well done! Keep the pics coming!!

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Reguards,

Ken H

Waddy,

Great tutorial!!

I rout my channels in the same way, using an Ibex purfling cutter and a sweetly honed chisel. I do have a powertool that will do the job at home, but at the moment I am building in the evenings when the kids are in bed, and that calls for some peace and quiet!

I would like to ask how long it took you? I wouldn't be exaggerating when I say it takes me about about half an hour each side, give or take depending on the wood.

Nice clean work there Waddy

I sympathize with you about working with zebrawood - the huge difference in hardness between the light and dark grain is a real pain ain't it?! It looks great though, so the pain is gonna be worth it!

It looks like you used a coat of shellac (or sanding sealer?) around the edges of the soundboard (back also?). Presumably this is to minimize tear-out of the end grain, right?

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Hey Waddy,

Thanks for the pics/tutorial. You always provide some new insights. Also, I enjoy just seeing how others do the various processes of guitar-building. Please, keep up the excellent work.

Regards,
Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Way to go, Waddy!

Patience being a virtue, you are a virtuous man! You must be very skilled with a chisel to have done that.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Thanks for your comments.

Ken and Sam, I didn't really time myself on cutting the ledges, but I got better as I went along. The back was really hard, and that's where I made my first mistake, and got too deep on the binding channel, a little. I'm going to add a thin black strip to the back of the binding, and it will become part of the purfling scheme. We're only talking .4mm here, so not a lot, but the binding needs to be proud of the sides everywhere, and it is close now, but I'd rather be safe, since my sides are just in the 1.8 - 1.9mm range. I spent most of the day yesterday doing the channels. I had cut the grooves and the edge cuts on Saturday. I went slow, because I found out how prone to chip-out the Zebra Wood was, and had to do several repairs, which, fortunately are invisible, except for the one where I attached some skin from my forefinger to the back. I think it'll scrape off. I know I spent at least an hour on each side, probably more on the back. The top went much faster, but you really have to watch which way you chisel on those curves. If you are going the wrong way when it turns, you are up the creek.

Dave, I sealed the top, not the back or sides. I didn't think it would make much difference there. Maybe I'm wrong on that.

Dennis and Max, thanks, I am neither patient or virtuous, just, as I have said before, a glutton for punishment. Mostly, I want to get the full experience, and learn to use the tools. I have never done any hand work like this before. Lots of projects, and have made lots of stuff, but mostly with power tools, nail guns and power screwdrivers.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

"I think this process was about as intense as anything I have done since I started."

Indeed, and it will increase with the bending, trimming and installation of the bindings and purflings........however once that is done, it eases up a bit.
Make sure you give yourself plenty of uninterupted time to do this. Carefully check your bends and dry fit before you start getting into any glue . If the binding can't be snugged up with the lightest of finger pressure, adjust the bend.
I also recommend you pre-bend your rope patterned purflings prior to installation. I use a flat form cut to the guitars profile with a channel on the edge and a hot banding iron to form the purflings by heating them through a slightly moist cloth. Tape in place till cooled and dry.

Good work!
Best

Thanks, Dave. I had planned on bending everything prior to installation, but the wet rag idea is a good one. Since I'm using a hot pipe anyway, that's what I'll try. Should they be installed in multiple steps, i.e., purfling first, let dry, then bindings, or at the same time?

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I do them all at the same time.
If you are bending the rope purflings over a hot pipe you might want to just spritz them with water and use a few strips of veneer on either side of them to keep things from separating.

What David said, What David said, what David said!

Yeah, about as intense as anything else in the project. I always heave a great sigh of relief after the binding is done. There are SO many chances to really screw up big time.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Dave, I just re-read your post - you said, "banding iron", not bending iron. Different thing totally. Good idea. I don't have a banding iron, but I have a Plastic Bag Sealing Iron that might work. I might give that a try, using my forms.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars