{"id":60,"date":"2023-10-08T04:09:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T04:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riccardo964a.wordpress.com\/2023\/10\/08\/lets-discuss-purfling-cutters-and-groovers\/"},"modified":"2024-12-11T04:40:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T04:40:29","slug":"lets-discuss-purfling-cutters-and-groovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riccardo964.techster.uk\/index.php\/2023\/10\/08\/lets-discuss-purfling-cutters-and-groovers\/","title":{"rendered":"Let's discuss purfling cutters and groovers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There’s two tasks whilst working on the violin’s (or fiddle’s) purfling<\/span><\/a> (or inlay making<\/i>): cutting<\/b> it and grooving<\/b> it (in this order). A purfle <\/a>is an ornamental border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In violins, they serve not only decorative purposes: they help the structural design, reinforcing the edges and preventing cracks on the plates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first one will mark where to cut, then you can use a knife or gouge (depending where) and then you create the ‘channel’ by removing the wood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another name for this employed in woodworking circles is “marking gauge” or “gramil”<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Purfling is  not restricted to violins as one could create it in guitars and other instruments as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a pictorial view of part of our objective here showing the purfling ‘channel’ (or groove) and one purfling strip installed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tools for purfling<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Let’s start\u00a0with this basic tool to add to your tool chest, quite commonly used for purfling:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And this is another model, with the same idea:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You could use a so called ‘Ibex purfling cutter’ (that’s the name I’ve found, I could be wrong – could it be the “Mittenwald style”?):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The user “robertdo”<\/a> (Maestronet Forums) has made public his tool, using screws:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There’s violin makers that prefer to use single blades and two passes, that’s an alternative. Here’s a very cheap solution using a blade shared by Stephen Faulk<\/a> (Maestronet Forums):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yet another idea using a single blade:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And finally, there’s also this model (I believe ‘controlling’ this tool might be tricky though):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tools for grooving the purfling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is also called “purfling pick”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here’s a groove cleaner with extended body:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This model could cost around \u00a330 (no VAT, no shipping costs included). Here’s a beautiful (and shorter) cutter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are plenty on-line resources for attempting it. Search for “homemade purflling cutter” or “make your own gramil” on your preferred browser. Here’s a nice Maestronet Forum discussion showing different approaches altogether.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tips<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n