Installing the Purfling

Installing the purfling in a violin is one of those fun parts where there's always something happening. Which means it's hard to remember to take pictures. So here's what I do. First, I use a dremel tool and a 1.3mm routing bit, set into a jig to follow equidistant around the edge of the instrument. Unfortunately, it's dangerous getting into the corners with this tool (not to mention that the purfling in the corners doesn't exactly follow the edges). So I do this part by hand.
This was the point a week ago that I had my big news interview. So these are the best pictures I have of doing the purfling channels in the corners by hand. That should also give you an idea as to how far behind the actual process I am with my blog. So anyways, I start with a tool called a purfling cutter, which should really be called a purfling marker. It scores the wood at whatever width (1.3mm for me) and whatever distance from the edge (4.25mm) I painstakingly set it to. Once I score the corners, I cut into the scored lines, lightly at first, then harder and harder, with a sharp knife (an X-acto knife is a good choice for this). That's what I'm doing in the top photo, above. In the bottom photo, I'm picking out the wood between the scored lines with my purfling pick.

The miter joints at the corners are carefully fit by cutting the purfling with my big single-beveled violin knife. Then I use a pipette to lay hot hide glue into the purfling channel, and hammer the purfling (gently) into place. This is a messy job and there's a lot of clean-up afterwards.














Up next, I get to do the final arching.