help with purfling gaps

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blnote

help with purfling gaps

Post by blnote »

I'm using KMG routing guide for the binding channels and I did a beautiful job on every piece of scrap in the garage, but as usual things didn't go as well as practice. The back turned out fine, messier than I had expected but cleaned up nicely. The purfling channel is my issue, I have two large gap areas that I'm hoping to get an opinion on. Nothing is glued on the top yet so I'm thinking swtich to pre-bent herringbone form stewmac and redo the channel OR fill the gaps. If the recommendation is fill them, please direct to where I can get info on that process.

Thanks, this forum is a wonderful resource, I'm looking forward to posting for help with whatever problem I create setting the neck! Kidding!
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Tony_in_NYC
Posts: 827
Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:11 pm

Re: help with purfling gaps

Post by Tony_in_NYC »

That is going to be tough to fill and have it come out looking nice. You might want to order that Herringbone purfling.
How did that happen? I have done 5 guitars with the KMG binding attachment and I have had no issues at all. Did the bit slip out of the collet?
Jim_H
Posts: 506
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 2:51 pm
Location: Bothell, WA USA

Re: help with purfling gaps

Post by Jim_H »

Do you have any spruce left from the top that matches those grain lines? If so, you might be able to patch something in there. With tight tolerances it might not look too bad under finish.

Otherwise, you are probably looking at changing to a really wide purfling.
My poorly maintained "Blog"
darren
Posts: 794
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Location: Williams Bay, Wi
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Re: help with purfling gaps

Post by darren »

not going to fill well - time for a new purfling scheme or as John calls it a 'design enhancement'.
Darren
Darryl Young
Posts: 1668
Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2010 6:44 pm
Location: Arkansas

Re: help with purfling gaps

Post by Darryl Young »

I like a purfling line.....and some claim it loosens the top around the perimeter giving more bass. I did the same exact thing......so I added 2 B/W purfling lines inside and outside the herringbone. Adding purfling is by far the easiest fix.
Slacker......
blnote

Re: help with purfling gaps

Post by blnote »

I guess I just got a little sloppy and didn't stay up against the side. I have two areas like that one on each side of the upper bout. The binding is tad more proud than it needs to be, I did consider adjusting it thinking it would move everything a little deeper but would probably still be too large a gap for a newbie to fill.
kencierp

Re: help with purfling gaps

Post by kencierp »

Yeah, I'm with Tony -- what happened there? I see three or four different ledges. With the vertical guide against the rim that result is simply impossible. Did the body move around? (was it clamped in place?) The total width of the channels with herringbone is about .180" But before you do anything you need to figure what happened in your process -- was the guide tight? Even tipping the vertical guide off the rim should not have resulted in that much of an error? Again you really need to understand what happened before moving on.
blnote

Re: help with purfling gaps

Post by blnote »

Thanks for the input, I have no experience with filling but plenty of experience buying larger moulding to fix all home remodel mistakes. Any secrets for minimizing the mess with weld-on? is it better to use a flux brush or something? it was like pouring water onto the channels.
blnote

Re: help with purfling gaps

Post by blnote »

Ken - Yes the body was clamped, no movement. That's not a great pic but there really only are 2 channels. I think it's just from tipping. Like I said in my first post, I did several practice runs, taped binding and purfling, and it was perfect, I was amazed at how easy it was.
Tony_in_NYC
Posts: 827
Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:11 pm

Re: help with purfling gaps

Post by Tony_in_NYC »

It does look like there are four channels. Are you using multiple binding and purfling strips or something? I think there is more going on here than just the one slip. The entire guide needs to be flush against the side of the rim when you are routing the channels. If it is not, you will have problems with the fit of the binding and the channels will not be even all the way around. I am sure you can cover this up with wider purfling, but as Ken said, you need to examine why it went wrong in the first place.
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