In this view, both plate's purfling grooves have been completed, including the corners which are done by hand.(New knife blade for each corner!)
The purfling is actually three tiny thin strips of wood glued together, the outer two are died black and center is white. {each one 0.020" thick...}
These are cut and fitted to perfect mitre joints and glued in place with hot violin making hide glue, then let to dry overnight. Again, excess glue is washed from the joint with a brush dipped in hot water, then water is removed from the surface with a clean cloth or paer towel.
Here a small steel scraper is used to scrape the purfling and channel to the same height, and to begin to blend the channel shape into the arching of the plate.
On this particular violin, I decided to use a plate arching design that raises rapidly from the channel; a smoother transition is more normally used so that the slope rises smoothly from the purfling channel into the plate arching.
A close up view of my steel scraper tool. It is made of hardened steel and the edges are ground square and sharp. Then a burnishing tool (hardened steel cylinder) is pushed against the sharp edges at an angle which rolls a 'hook' cutting edge which actually does the wood machining.
Scrapers need to have their cutting edges re-set fairly often.
Modified 9/2017
Page O16C_33
..Apply a bevel shape to the plate edges with a file or sanding boards and dowells.
