Purfling - how to?

[basswraith]

Can any of the bass makers offer any advice on how to inlay purfling successfully?
Is the channel cut a bit smaller than the purfling strip itself, making a tight but seamless fit?
What kind of tools are luthiers using these days?
This should be a good one.
Thanx.

[toman]

I haven't done this myself, but I think I know the basics of it. There are many places that sell a purfling cutter; basically two knives with a guide that cut the edges of the groove; then you clean out the channel with a small chisel of some sort. After that the already laminated, bent, purfling is glued in and planed/scraped level with the surface of the top or back. Alternative to this would be using a Dremel or something similar to rout the channel, but either way, it's basically the same. I'm not claiming this is accurate, just what I know... Feel free to correct, anyone...

[Eric Rene Roy]

Cutting the channel by hand with a knife compresses the wood so that when you glue the purfling in...the wood swells back up and gives a nice tight fit. I know guys who cut the channel with a dremel or fordem just a bit narrow and then burnish the edges of the channel a bit to get the compression that way.

I know its not a bass...but great pics:

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[nicklloyd]

Many fellers use this with the flexible shaft Foredom tool...
http://www.vanzandtviolins.com/CroenTool.htm