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Hi everyone!

I just found myself wondering if any of you cut their own teflon purfling strips..... I know you can buy them at lmii etc but I just find 4$ each for a possible one time job too much.
I found Todd Stock writing about him milling UHMW-PE strips here: viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=17837&p=253469&hilit=+teflon+strip#p253469
Is there another way to do that? Or am I just really cheap?

greetings,
florian

I would love to know where to buy a sheet of .066 thick teflon .. Stew mac says the stuff they sell is that thick, but its really only .0625 or .063 .. if you have shell thats a thou or two over, its a bear to get in. They used to sell .066, but havent had any in a while ... my stock is geting low.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Yes, the teflon strips are cheap easy to make. You can buy teflon in sheet form in various lengths thicknesses from supply houses on the web. I use mostly .063 and .098 shell strips. Conveniently, teflon comes in .063 thickness, however it is easy to cut any size teflon strips you want. I glue the sheet down to 1/8" mahogany plywood with contact cement, the flammable kind, and cut it cleanly on the table saw. Once cut, the backing comes right off and any residue glue just strips off easily using your fingernail. I use cheap 7 1/4" carbide Skilsaw type blades from the hardware store. Cheap and not much kerf. Good luck with yur projects.-Bob

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I think I'll get some UHWM-PE and cut that to size. It's difficult enough to find some metric materials for luthiers.

Hope to find the time to post some pics and builds soon.

cheers

please excuse my ignorance but what is UHWM-PE?

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

wikipedia makes it easy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high ... lyethylene

cheers,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes