BINDING THE BODY -- 2
I use a purfling strip (BWBW) under my binding. Since
this means bending the purfling on edge - which it does not want to do
without twisting, I have devised a method of prebending the purfling
so that it does not twist. I bend it on my side bender, and "sandwich"
it tightly between two pieces of wood. The side to side pressure
of the wood on either side of the purfling keeps it from twisting.
This actually works very well.
Here
is the setup for bending the side purfling. The two pieces of maple
are used to capture and squeeze the purfling so that it will not twist
while bending.
Here I am bending the side purfling for the cutaway.
More of the same.
Wood binding is prebent.
After the side purfling is shaped, I cut the butt end roughly
to length.
The next step is to miter the side purfling
with the purfling which lies on either side of the butt wedge. (One
doesn't have to do this -- the side purfling could run directly
over the butt wedge, but I think the miter looks better - a matter of
personal preference). This is a fairly simple matter of chisel work,
but there is a trick which will help greatly. I polish the back
(flat) side of the chisel to a mirror finish (which is good sharpening
technique) and cut with that edge towards the purfling - as opposed to
the waste which is being carefully removed. The mirror image of
the purfling will clearly show the angle you are cutting, and allows you
to carefully adjust the angle at which you hold the chisel. You can see this illustrated
on Frank Ford's site.
Or here.
Here I am checking to see if the angle is correct.
After I get the angle right, I tack the
joint together with a drop of Hot Stuff.
Here I am doing the same thing on a cutaway. The piece in my
fingers is an old planer blade which I use to hold the pieces firmly in
place while I apply the Hot Stuff.
For
cutaways I often glue in the side purfling before the binding itself so
that I don't have to handle so many pieces at once with wet glue.
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