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I will be using a b/w/red/w/b purfling on a small guitar. The b/w are each the standard plastic piece that comes pre-assembled, but the red is a piece of dyed wood purchased from LMI. How can I glue the plastic and the wood together before installing the whole thing to keep the spaghetti under control?

And what glue would work for both the wood and the plastic?

Thanks much

Ed

I usually use superglue for purflings and bindings. Two methods I have used:
1. Tape all the purflings in place and wick thin superglue between the tape, remove the tape and wick in more super glue.
2. Glue the ends of the purfling together, then starting at the area under the fingerboard work the purflings and superglue as you go, allowing the glue to set while holding things in place. Taping your fingertips helps keep them from being glued to the guitar.

If you glue all your purfling strips together before applying them to the guitar they may be too stiff to bend well.

I would keep them separate like Clay says. They get too stiff to bend if they get over 1/16" wide or so. Gluing the ends together is nice to make the joints easier to cut.
Yes...it can be frustrating dealing with multiple strips. Just tape them as you go and use thin CA glue to hold them. Maybe send the kids away before the swearing starts

Three purfling strips and binding together is not too much of a handful and so I don't usually bother with any special arrangements. When doing 6 or 7 at a time I use a bit of shrink sleeving (not shrunk!) to prevent the individual lines from flailing all over the place. But I'd recommend swapping your plastic B/W for wood or wood/fibre. I glue up with Titebond.

Pre-bend everything as accurately as you need, then tightly tape the collection dry to the "flat" just south of the waist such that all the bends are properly centered. Then start gluing and taping from the waist out, removing the initial tape south of the waist as soon as you have the waist bedded down.

The red in the middle of this arrangement is three separate strips of bloodwood, so the binding and purfling went on together as six separate pieces.

_________________
Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

A d45 has a lot of stuff and I do them with duco and tape. I won't use CA as it can interact with spruce . It is a lot easier to clean up also.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks all

John Hall - will Duco glue the wood, too?

I am experimenting with a technique I saw a furniture guy use- he had a shape like an inlay he would be doing, and glued the "binding" together around the shape so it was pre-formed. I am using one of the cutouts for my body mold with packing tape on the 3/4" edge and then taping the sandwich down and using CA - needs a little technique development, but I see potential.

yes
duco is perfect for that.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it