Bending fiber purfling in the long direction.

[printer2]

Help!

I have black and white 0.010" fiber that I want to make a B-W-B sandwich. I want to run it vertical between the wood binding on the top side, easy enough, but also between the binding and the side. How do I keep it perpendicular to the side? I would like to do something like this. Or do I have the wrong material?



I have this.

[Ned Milburn]

Laminate the side purfling to the binding, then when you install it is just one piece of binding and separate top purfling to install.

[printer2]

Thanks, I'll give it a shot.

[Tom West]

printer2: I buy BWB purfling pre glued. Then as Ned says glue that to the binding. Then bend the glued up combination. If bending on a form with blanket I tape the glued combo with the purfling back to back. This helps to prevent the purf from buckling. I use masking tape. The top purfing is installed when the binding is installed. These can also be bent. I wet these and bend them using a heat gun or hair dryer if needed for help. They are bent on a guitar shape form with a thin caul held in place with brads. Some of the thinner purfs can be installed without bending. But I find it easier to bend. Not sure of your skill level so I may be preaching to the choir here. Hope some of it helps.
Tom

[printer2]

Never a thing as too much information, always learn a thing or two from another person's experience. The binding is already bent to shape, I am using a cut off strip of the sides as binding. That is one of the reasons I was not sure what to do. If the binding was still straight gluing up to it would have been easier. I tried tacking one end of the purfling onto the binding with thin CA and it did not want to stick. I do not have any accelerator at the moment, what I was going to do was glue all the purfling together with some thin white glue and then CA it later.

I have been mulling over the 0.010" purfling though, might be a little fine for this guitar. Might just go with a wider white strip. This guitar is just a test bed for trying out ideas on so I may bounce back and forth on what route I am going to take. So no pressure on it coming out perfect. Might end up a duck with donkey ears on it. Just having fun learning.

[charles Tauber]

Lute makers often put thin wooden strips between the staves that comprise the lute bowl ("back"). These need to bent on edge, much as you are describing you need to do. One technique lute makers use is to bend over a hot copper pipe. Take a short length, say an inch or so, of the same diameter pipe and cut it in half to obtain two semi-circular rings. The two rings are then "snapped" on to the exterior of the bending pipe and are separated from each other by the thickness of the wood strip to be bent. The two rings add heat to the sides of the wood strip while providing lateral support to the strips.

You may have some success using that method, but, as others have pointed out, it is much easier to glue the purling to the binding prior to bending.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

Lute makers often put thin wooden strips between the staves that comprise the lute bowl ("back"). These need to bent on edge, much as you are describing you need to do. One technique lute makers use is to bend over a hot copper pipe. Take a short length, say an inch or so, of the same diameter pipe and cut it in half to obtain two semi-circular rings. The two rings are then "snapped" on to the exterior of the bending pipe and are separated from each other by the thickness of the wood strip to be bent. The two rings add heat to the sides of the wood strip while providing lateral support to the strips.

You may have some success using that method, but, as others have pointed out, it is much easier to glue the purling to the binding prior to bending.

Cool, another trick to keep in my toolbox.

Because I live in Canada and ordering some purfling means spending $15 on the item and $30 to get it to my door I have been looking at alternatives. I did buy a couple sheets of 0.010", 0.020" black and white fiber from RC Tonewoods which is what I was going to use here. Instead I am trying some 0.030" white material I have. The 0.030" stuff is for mounting pictures, 32" x 40" sheet for $8. We will see if it works in a little while.

[mhammond]

I will use a small iron and water to bend it "flatways". I just do it right on the top of the workbench. A little patience goes a long way....

[printer2]

The poster board does not like epoxy much, soaks it up and turns color. We'll see how CA gets along with it.



End graft bookmatched slices of the pen turning blank. Used epoxy as they did not fit quite right when flush on the routered section. Picture could be a little crisper.

[printer2]

A little rough around the edges but at least didn't screw it up too badly. Have to do the top side and trim it up some.



Found out the card stock for lack of a better name, is bendable enough to be shaped around the body. It also stiffens up nicely and stays white with CA. Now the thing that got me, I glued it to the sides before I put the binding on. In the pre-glued condition it will form and has some give. Once glued any ripples are there to stay. You can sand it and scrape it to some extent but the best thing would be to keep it flexible until the binding goes on. But gluing everything at the same time would be tricky.

The good news is that I found a place in Canada I can get binding and purfling at a reasonable price so hopefully I will not be going through something like this again. Mind you it is not like I planned how I wanted it to look beforehand. That would be so unlike me.

[Howard Klepper]

I find that the b/w/b laminated fiber purflings can be bent on edge to the shape of a guitar side just by using your hands and going slowly--no heat or forms needed.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

I find that the b/w/b laminated fiber purflings can be bent on edge to the shape of a guitar side just by using your hands and going slowly--no heat or forms needed.

I think part of the problem I had with the 0.010" stuff I was trying to use was that the aspect ratio was too much, if it were three pieces laminated together it would have been more closer to square and easier to keep upright. Will be buying some for the next guitar.

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by printer2

I think part of the problem I had with the 0.010" stuff I was trying to use was that the aspect ratio was too much, if it were three pieces laminated together it would have been more closer to square and easier to keep upright. Will be buying some for the next guitar.

Anything 0.8mm or less you should easily be able to fit to the guitar top without pre-bending. For the sides, again, gluing first to bindings then bending should work well.

Where in Canada are you located, Printer2?

[printer2]

Originally Posted by Ned Milburn

Anything 0.8mm or less you should easily be able to fit to the guitar top without pre-bending. For the sides, again, gluing first to bindings then bending should work well.

Where in Canada are you located, Printer2?

Winnipeg. A Canadian woodworking site told about these guys. Looks reasonable.

http://www.amwoodinc.com

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by printer2

Winnipeg. A Canadian woodworking site told about these guys. Looks reasonable.

http://www.amwoodinc.com

I've been buying stuff there for 35 years. Another good source is Exotic Woods, exotic-woods.com.

Being in Winnipeg, look into Assent Works, assentworks.ca, fun place.