Lutherie
TRADE SECRETS
Makers reveal their special techniques
Making purfling
A guide for luthiers who prefer to create their own strips
to use in their instruments, rather than buy them ready-made
BY MARIANNE JOST AND SEBASTIAN RIBES
Luthiers based in Cremona, Italy
W
e learnt to make purfling from our masters, Francesco and Vincenzo Bissolotti, and we have
continued to use this method for more than 25 years. Making your own purfling could be considered
a boring extra task but we actually enjoy it, and seeing the final result brings us a lot of satisfaction.
In one afternoon we can make enough purfling for the next couple of years of instrument making.
Depending on the type and model of the instrument, we like to vary the thickness of the individual strips of
wood that form the purfling. Here, we describe our procedure of making purfling in a series of steps. Our hope
is that this article will be of assistance to whomever tries their hand at making it.
A block of pearwood Making the strips
1 This method requires one block of
pearwood and one of poplar, both cut to
55 x 5 (tangential surface) x 6cm (height). The
2 Before each planing, we wet the surface of
the wood with a sponge or cloth. We use two
well-sharpened no.6 planes, one adapted to cut
pearwood will be used for the stained ‘black’ very finely, while the other is adjusted to cut the
strips, while the poplar is used for the ‘white’. shavings. We clamp the pearwood block on to the
The length of the blocks allows us to use the workbench, and flatten the surface with the fine
shavings for cello purfling as well. The 5cm plane. Then we wrap a belt (such as a Ratchet strap)
ALL PHOTOS FABIO ALESSANDRO RUGGERI
width makes it possible to plane shavings with around the front handle of the second plane, and
a thickness of up to 0.45mm. If we want a work together: one of us holds the plane and at the
thicker strip, we reduce the width of the block. same time directs it, applying constant pressure as
The poplar, being a softer wood, is easier the plane moves over the full length of the wood,
to plane than the pearwood. We often ensuring that the shaving has an even thickness overall.
use 1mm veneers and scrape them down The other helps by pulling the plane by the belt with
until we obtain the desired thickness. force while also helping to maintain its direction.
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TRADE SECRETS
3 We then check the thickness of the shaving
with a thicknessing gauge, and adjust the plane
blade accordingly. We repeat this step until we reach
our desired thickness, while also making sure that
the thickness is regular over the entire length.
After planing each strip, we re-flatten the surface
of the block before beginning another. This way
every shaving will have one smooth surface.
Checking the thickness
4 To stain the pearwood we use a black fabric dye.
We advise using twice the amount of dye to
that recommended by the manufacturer for colouring
fabrics. If the manufacturer advises 30g of dye per 700g
of fabric, we use 30g of dye per 350g of shavings.
We dissolve the dye in boiling water, then completely
immerse the strips, ensuring that the entire surface of
the wood is covered with water. We monitor the pot for
at least 40 minutes, carefully and continually moving the
strips around and unrolling them as they curl. We then
add a large spoonful of ferrous sulphate (FeSO4) and let
it boil for another 40 minutes. Then we let it cool, before
rinsing the strips several times in lukewarm water. We take
Dyeing the strips care while unrolling them, until the water runs clear.
5 To dry the coloured strips we lay them out on a flat
surface and secure them with clamps at each end.
This way they will remain flat when they are dry.
Next, the pearwood and poplar strips to be used for the
upper and lower bouts are glued between two flat slabs
of wood. Once the individual purfling lengths are cut out
and ready, we bend them to shape with the bending iron.
It is important that the slabs and counterforms
used for gluing are made from wood. This helps the
The strips ready to be glued glue dry faster, and ensures that it takes well.
6 We rub dry soap on to the surfaces of the slabs, as well as
on to both sides of the paper to be placed between them
and the purfling strips while gluing. We never use wax as a
substitute for soap as it can create problems later when gluing
the purfling into the instrument.
Soaping the surfaces
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7 We wet the smooth surface of the black strip with a
damp cloth, then immediately apply the glue to its rough
surface. We use hot hide glue or slightly diluted Titebond.
Both give good results, though Titebond is easier to work with.
Then we apply glue to one side of the white (poplar) strip
and place it on top of the black one. We repeat this same
step with the second black strip. This process needs to be
executed as quickly as possible as the strips have a tendency
Applying the glue to roll up (and if you use hot hide glue it gelatinises fast).
8 Applying pressure with a damp cloth along
the surfaces of the strip will clean away any
excess glue. At this point we clamp our ‘sandwich’
of purfling between our paper-lined slabs.
The purfling is placed between the
paper and the counterform slabs
Marking the height Cutting the lengths
with a gauge out with a knife
Gluing the C-bouts
10a 10b
10 Before cutting out the individual lengths to use
for the inlay, we wipe the purfling down with
a damp cloth to remove the soap along with any pieces
of paper which may have been glued on. Then, with the
help of a 100 plane, we plane flat the spine (the thin
side with the three layers exposed), and proceed to
mark the height of the purfling on to both sides of the
Waiting overnight for the glue to dry ‘sandwich’ using a marking gauge (10a). Finally, we cut
our purfling strip out with a knife along the mark of the
9 We make our purfling for the C-bouts using a
counterform made especially for each different
model of instrument. We cut the strips to the
gauge (10b). In the case of the C-bouts, the purfling is
cut out while still wrapped around its counterform.
Before cutting out each successive length, we
necessary length and, after gluing the strips together, re-flatten the spine with the 100 plane to clean
we insert one end into the specially cut slot in the away any marks the marking gauge or knife may
counterform, and wrap the ‘sandwich’ as tightly as have left. This clean surface is the part which
possible around it using cotton or linen ribbon. We will come into contact with the floor of the canal
calculate that the glue adds between 0.05mm and when we finally come to inlay our purfling.
0.1mm to the combined thickness of the strips. TRANSLATION BY KATE POULTON
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