Official Luthiers Forum!

I think I read it somewhere recently on the OLF that people have used the hand crank pasta making machines to create purfling strips from sheets of veneer.

I think I might want to try this (I have quite a bit of veneer laying around) but I wanted to see how reliable this method is and if there is any special brand of pasta cutter that works better than others.

It sounded like an interesting idea, but I thought I should double check before I go shopping. :-)

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I think a steel straight edge and a craft knife is much more reliable especially if using my pasta machine!

Colin

_________________
I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

yeah, I was thinking it would crunch it all up, but if it works I am certainly game to try it.....

that is why I thought it would be wise to confirm.

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I use a small jeweler's saw blade mounted in my table saw. It works just fine.

If you use Colins knife method, I have found that a sharp exacto type knife works good but don't try to cut all the way thru on the first pass because you risk splitting the wood instead of cutting it. Instead make several light pass's cutting a little deeper each time. Your blade should follow the earlier cut and should be thru with 2 or 3 cut's.John How38629.4455555556

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Brock,

I was the one who posted the pasta maker tip. I got it from Grant Goltz, who is an outstanding woodworker and guitar builder.

It works great. Far as I can tell, all of the Italian made pasta cutters look to be made by the same company. The one I use has two sets of cutters -- think linguini and fettuccini, and you'll know the widths.

I recommend that you wipe down your veneers with a wet rag before running them through the machine, and while cranking them through, be sure to keep them going in straight. Often the veneer will try to shift, so that it's getting cut at an angle to the grain. This will cause it to shred.

I have successfully cut curly maple and Indian rosewood.   As I recall, Grant has done ebony and bloodwood as well, but he says it tends to splinter. I'm not surprised. So, I'd recommend you stick to one of the easier materials for your first try.

Best,

Michael

_________________
Live to Play, Play to Live

Thanks. I appreciate it.

The veneers I am most interested in cutting up are some dyed maple I have laying around.

:-)

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Do you use a red or white sauce with your veneers??
Andy

_________________
Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

I was asking this same question and ended up just putting a fine blade on my band saw and then ripping them and it seemed to work out perfectly. First I glued up a couple of veneers to get a BWB in the thickness I wanted, then ran them through the band saw against the fence.

I also saw a Veneer saw blade the other day up on some web site and have been thinking of trying that approach on a small table saw.

Just this past weekend I started doing it the way John How described and wasn't happy with the result. So I reverted to using my table saw with a thin kerf blade.

If you go the table saw route (and don't mind the waste from the saw blade kerf), here's a tip for what its worth. Set your width between the blade and the fence (hopefully you have a zero clearance insert). If you don't have a zero clearance insert, raise the blade through some thin scrap fiber board held down with double sided carpet tape.   Then re-raise blade through scrap wood clamped to your fence. Raise the scrap off the surface just higher than the thickness of the veneer and re clamp. This creates a guard that ensures your fingers are well clear of the blade and a hold down for your thin strips of veneer.

I make binding the same way.

However, if you go the pasta maker route you'll have the added bonus of surprising your wife with home made pasta or better yet lasgna. You can't beat homemade pasta! Anthony Z38630.1510300926

I just think that sometimes we look for too high a technological approach to what are simple problems.

Colin

_________________
I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.