applying binding and purfling

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Brian Evans
Posts: 922
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2014 8:26 am
Location: Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia

applying binding and purfling

Post by Brian Evans »

I'm quite new to the binding with added purfling technique. I installed a .020" B-W-B .070" tall purling inside of a .060" .25" tall white binding all at once, managing the four separate strips. It went fairly well, but I wondered if there are other techniques in common use. Do people laminate the purfling into one strip? Do you ever install the purfling before the binding? It seems that with the really wide purfling you some times see that doing it all at once would be really hard, particularly if you are using a teflon strip to get space for later insert of pearl. Any thoughts on binding/purfling technique?

Brian
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Barry Daniels
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Location: The Woodlands, Texas

Re: applying binding and purfling

Post by Barry Daniels »

It's probably been done any way you can think of. I don't recommend gluing up the purling strips ahead of time because that just makes it more stiff and harder to bend around the curves. In order to give you specific recommendations we need to know several things. Wood, fiber or plastic? Glue?
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Brian Evans
Posts: 922
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2014 8:26 am
Location: Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia

Re: applying binding and purfling

Post by Brian Evans »

In this case it was Stewmac plastic binding and I flooded with acetone. Seemed to work quite well, albeit a lot of clean-up. I usually use ultra-thin CA, though. I think when using the thin CA, which wicks between all the layers, one could tape the whole guitar up with everything quite firmly in place, and then apply the glue. I've ordered the very thin glue whips to see what happens, I plan to try this technique when binding my fingerboards. I am planning to bind with BWB, .020" by .25", re-saw the slots, then add .060" white to the outside, unslotted.

Brian
Alan Carruth
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Re: applying binding and purfling

Post by Alan Carruth »

As Barry says, there are lots of ways to do this, and they've probably all been used at one time or another.

With multiple purfling lines I find it easiest to do them one or two at a time with CA. I use wood, and generally make up a B/W sandwich which can be cut into strips which are then treated as one line.

I only used shell around the edge of one archtop, and for that I used the usual no-stick strip. It has shell on the sides as well as the top and back, so there were four of those. I did put the single line of black next to the top/back and side wood in with CA first, but then glued up the rest in one swell foop with the no-stick in place. I used fish glue for that glue-up, iirc. Everything was taped as tightly as possible to get the fit, after which the tape was removed except for a couple of pieces on each edge. Then I started at one end with the fish glue, taping as I went with 'string' tape. Once everything was on the whole box gets wrapped with a 'rubber rope'; a long strip cut from a truck inner tube. That's my usual method of applying bindings. Once the glue had hardened I removed the no-stick and replaced it with lots and lots of little bits of pearl.
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