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im really into natural colored wood veneer for purfling lines and id like to buy a handful of veneers to make my own strips. are there any woods you would suggest or NOT suggest working with in such thin and narrow stock? the woods i have in mind are as follows: bloodwood, curly eucalyptus, imbuya, lacewood, maple, sapele, african satinwood and walnut. all of those in 1/42" thicknesses, except for the maple and walnut, which id like to get some 1/24" or 1/18".

also, my last experience cutting purfling strips from veneer was not only frustrating, but wasteful. any good tips on doing that? i was thinking of using my table saw with a fret cutting blade.

thanks.

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sweat the small stuff.

I think i read somewhere on here that people tape the veneer before cutting so that the fibers don't tear.

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-Marcus
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The tape is a good way. You also need good quality fresh X-acto blade. Clamp a heavy straightedge.

Bloodwood is really difficult to cut, even with those tricks.

Other trick... if you want add multiple purfling... glue them together before.

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

I use my fret saw on my table saw to cut veneers for purfling lines. I put a sheet of countertop arborite on the saw, run the blade up through it as high as I can then back it down so I can glue a splitter behind the blade through the zero clearance slot. Then I set my fence to cut 0.070" (check with a piece of MDF just into the blade then backed out). When cutting I hold my push stick over the veneer with my right hand and feed with my left hand, pushing the tail end through with the push stick. This works well for me. I do fibre sheets this way too.

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With Bloodwood, it helps to align the grain with the cut. Most veneers don't seem to care, but Bloodwood does. It's a bit wasteful, but you'll get cleaner pieces. I usually cut wider pieces, then do a lay-up with other colors I'm using. Then cut the individual strips from the 2 or 3 color lay-up. I generally cut those on the band saw with a 14 - 18 tooth bimetal blade.

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Waddy

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Yes, bloodwood is a pain in a number of ways.

For cutting, I use 3-4 strips of double sided tape to stick the veneer sheet to a backer of mdf. I use a plywood blade that has been ground to a thinner kerf by a saw shop. I then rip strips, moving the fence over each time. With brittle wood (like bloodwood!), it helps to use a heat gun to release the tape or the strips can break as you take them off. Or tape a piece of lower tack masking tape to the double sided tape.

Anybody know a source for low tack double sided tape?

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

Double sided tape is a very useful... but sometimes really a pain in the ash.
I had some problem with tape that is too strong and breaks the pieces when separatin them... and I also experienced too much low tack tape that didn't hold while slotting a fretboard, by exemple. I think the best is to try different one and choose the one you need for a each work, but still... I have now a Venture tape roll (same that StewMac sells), and it's really poorly holding... but the last roll of the same companie I had was really, really holding good so....

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

thanks for sharing your methods, gentlemen. i think i will rig something up similar to what you have, rod. i didnt have much luck with an exacto knife, so i like the idea of using a super thin kerf blade on the table saw to do the job.

so, other than bloodwood being difficult to deal with, no other foreseen problems with my list of veneers? the only one i have mild reservations about is the lacewood. i think it could look really cool on edge, even at .024", but ive heard it can be a bit difficult as well.

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sweat the small stuff.

I've clamped the veneer between two boards and a piece of formica and sliced off strips with a single edge razor blade. I place the veneer on the bottom board, then the formica which has had the edge joined on a jointer, back from the edge of the veneer the thickness of the strip, then the second board about an inch back from the edge of the formica. I then clamp them all together and use a new single edge razor blade to cut along the edge of the formica. If the blade wants to wander into the strip I cut from the other direction. I have also cut them on the tablesaw but the results were a little rougher and there was more waste.

Slice mine on the band saw. Put a few layers of masking tape up against the blade on all sides. Clamp a small rip of 1/4" ply down for a fence and rip the little suckers. With a good, fairly fine 1/8" blade and proper feed rate and I can make a pile of purflings in a few hours. When the tape wears away and the pieces start to fray I put another piece or two down. Mahogany has been the worst so far, very brittle when cut into such tiny slivers. Walnut wants to bust out pretty bad also.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

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Naptha works good for releasing double-stick tape.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I take my pieces of double sided tape and lightly stick each side to my pants leg. It picks up enough Cotton fiber to tone it's stick down but leaves enough stick to do the job.

I was in a fabric store yesterday (don't ask!), and noticed they have all kinds of interesting varieties of tapes and glues. I didn't have time to find someone to ask, but I thought about this post. It might be worth stopping in a JoAnn's or Hancock Fabrics, or even a Micheal's Craft store and ask them about double sided tape.

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Jim Hansen

Scotch/3M, used to make a double sided, removeable tape. It was like regular Scotch tape, but with stickum like Post-it-Notes.

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Waddy

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Todd, I seem to remember once you posted pictures of your fence set-up with some high-tech plastic gadget built by a rocket scientist. Do you use this? Can you re-post your "Stock-Rocket-Feed-Veneer-Binding-cutting-thingymagigy"?
Would you re-post and explain the complicated diagram schema? I'm a Luthier wanna-be, not a engineer

Where's Chris. He'll make us something! I haven't seen one of his high-tech gadgets in a while. I'm having Paulick tutorial withdrawals.

Steve

For slicing smaller pieces of veneer a large old fashioned paper cutter with a guillitine handled blade is very effective clean and accurate. Picked up at church rummage sale for $2.