ChuckBarnett
Well-known member
Do any of you make your own purfling? Even down to the .010 inch thick stuff? How do you do that?
Curious if I could do that...
Chuck Barnett
Curious if I could do that...
Chuck Barnett
Making purfling?
- Thread starter ChuckBarnett
- Start date
sequoia
Well-known member
I buy mine. Life is too short to play with making thin strips of wood. But to each his own. If you have the time and find that sort of thing fun then go for it.
ChuckBarnett
Well-known member
Well, as it turns out I'm sort of in a lull waiting on some of that thin strips of wood to arrive from LMI. So, who knows.
jupiteruke
Well-known member
I make a lot of my own purfling because I can not buy what I want, and it is cheaper. I laminate veneers, and then slice it up with a very fine toothed bandsaw blade. I make black-red-black, black-white-black-white for use against black binding and some specials like blue-orange-blue for custom things. You can see the bandsaw blade on my blog, http://jupiteruke.com/blog/, part way down the first page (making binding). I glue the veneers together with Titebond III which is water resistant so the purfling does not de-laminate when moistened and bent.
Red Cliff
Well-known member
Make my own. Get yourself a Veritas inlay string thicknesser and then you can make purfling or binding in any size you want. I also make guitars, and therefore have to make rosettes anyways, it is the same process really. Not sure I would bother if I only made ukes though. Maybe.
Timbuck
Well-known member
What is purfling used for...does it improve the sound or playability? does it add strength to the construction (in the rosette may be) but on the rest of the build it is just ornamental..innit 
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sequoia
Well-known member
I also don't make my own tuners, fret wire, strap buttons, solvents, truss rods, bolts or strings although a person could make such things if so inclined. The strings would be tough though. Could get goats I suppose and... well maybe not. Too messy.
Timbuck
Well-known member
Red Cliff
Well-known member
I guess each of us have to find the point where we are happy to buy in Vs make our own. Most instrument makers mix their own shellac, or maybe make their own hide glue. I do turn my own strap buttons, and pegs if using them. I also make my own truss rods. Never tried strings though... But then time isn't money for me as it is primarily a hobby.
I make most of my own bindings and purflings mostly out of a desire to have things all matchy-matchy. It's nice to have an accent line that perfectly matches some other part of the instrument because they were both cut from the same board. And I like having things to do with scraps and offcuts instead of just tossing or burning them.
And there's an aspect of convenience, or laziness. Knowing that I plan on making these parts from wood or scraps I already own means one less thing I have to plan out and buy ahead of time, since I can just make them when I need them. I don't like having a build get hung up because I discover I'm all out of X or I forgot to buy Y. Making more parts myself means less of that worry.
I also do this as a side thing vs a primary source of income, so I can "afford" to waste time cutting and thicknessing strips of wood. Or at least I don't have to figure out if I can afford it or not.
And there's an aspect of convenience, or laziness. Knowing that I plan on making these parts from wood or scraps I already own means one less thing I have to plan out and buy ahead of time, since I can just make them when I need them. I don't like having a build get hung up because I discover I'm all out of X or I forgot to buy Y. Making more parts myself means less of that worry.
I also do this as a side thing vs a primary source of income, so I can "afford" to waste time cutting and thicknessing strips of wood. Or at least I don't have to figure out if I can afford it or not.
sequoia
Well-known member
What is purfling used for...does it improve the sound or playability? does it add strength to the construction (in the rosette may be) but on the rest of the build it is just ornamental..innit
Good point Ken, but I think purfling does add some things:
1) It makes the ukulele look purtier.
2) It outlines the shape of the curves so that when the player is on stage the audience can see the loveliness of the graceful outline and want to buy one.
3) It allows the luthier to charge more for their ukuleles.
Red Cliff
Well-known member
I think it is also good for hiding imperfections and mistakes, particularly with glue lines around the binding.
Michael N.
Well-known member
Gluing up purfling really doesn't take much time, well not if you use the bulk method of production. 8" - 10"+ wide veneer is easy to obtain, so if you glue up a lamination of 3 veneers each at 8" to 10" wide and say 36" long it's enough to last any maker a year or two or three. However Martin might go through it all in less than a week.
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