Crimson0087 Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 Would either of these knives be good for purfling channels? Does it need to be a single bevel knife? https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/carving-tools/knives/45740-traditional-japanese-carving-knives https://www.madinter.com/en/luthier-knife-12mm.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Harte Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 (edited) 4 hours ago, Crimson0087 said: Would either of these knives be good for purfling channels? Does it need to be a single bevel knife? https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/carving-tools/knives/45740-traditional-japanese-carving-knives https://www.madinter.com/en/luthier-knife-12mm.html There are probably much better options than these. I have struggled with single bevel knives, overall preferring double beveled options. This may not be the experience of others though. My current go to purfling channel knife is shown below. The blade is 8mm wide and the profile is the same on both sides. This seems to produce a tidy result. Edited February 1 by John Harte Correct the blade width dimension Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Yacey Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 John @violins88 made me some single bevel knives for purfling and bridge trimming, a left hand and right hand bevel. I really like them as they cut a nice perpendicular channel wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Szyper Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 Leave only the tip sharp and dull the rest a bit, prevents a lot of mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davide Sora Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 I prefer interchangeable blades, they have the advantage that they can be sharpened and modified quickly in different ways (single or double bevel, rounded point, sharp point, different blade shape, etc.) until we find the one that suits us. It's not as fancy as John Harte's (which by the way has a very cool blade shape) but this is what I use, strictly double bevel: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Noon Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 The linked knives look too wide and fat to me for purfling work. I suppose you could taper them down to a good working dimension, but that's just grinding away a lot of metal, leaving a long sharp edge, most of which is only there to cut your fingers. I only have to cut the corner tips, and my choice for that is a scalpel. The "best knife" (for me) for rest is a carbide min-endmill. For $7 on Amazon: scalpel + blades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 I've used an exacto but the tip tends to break off. Thin is good. I like John Harte's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis J Posted January 31 Report Share Posted January 31 The Madinter knife you have shown is 2 mm thick and that is what a lot of those marketed as luthier's knives are. Not ideal for trimming purfling channels. That is why disposable blades or long thin blades about .6 mm thick near the point work better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Rosales Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 Hock makes one specifically for the Chicago violin making school. https://www.hocktools.com/products/knives/knife-blanks-for-violin-schools.html Who knows how their catalog will change with the Lee Valley acquisition. I’ve had my eye on it but I decided to hold out for one from John Schmidt (violin88). Only problem is it looks like he won’t be operational in New Zealand for at least a few more months. Edit: After some thought, I’m not sure if the purfling blade from Hock is for a purfling knife or for the purfling marker. I assume it’s a knife because it seems to line up with some of the dimensions recommended by Brian Derber, and it’s listed with other knife blanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Harte Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 1 hour ago, Davide Sora said: I prefer interchangeable blades, they have the advantage that they can be sharpened and modified quickly in different ways (single or double bevel, rounded point, sharp point, different blade shape, etc.) until we find the one that suits us. It's not as fancy as John Harte's (which by the way has a very cool blade shape) but this is what I use, strictly double bevel: In the interests of full disclosure, I should come clean and mention that I often use the same knife handle as Davide with a #11 scalpel blade for cutting the bee sting point recess. My main weird looking knife was inspired by Spidlen's purfling knife illustrated in the August 2005 Strad magazine. It works well in both spruce and maple with the shape being particularly useful if you want to make a pushing cut through harder spruce grain lines etc.. I've tried lots of different options. At the end of the day it comes down to what you can get to do everything you want with the least amount of grief involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaseyLouque Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 I have discovered an alternative to exacto and seems *so far* to be less likely to snap at the tip. I picked mine up from a local hardware store. It is also thinner than exacto/excel blades ive tested. My hock knife is 1.5mm Exacto and Excel I have around 0.55-0.57mm OLFA blades i tested were all 0.44mm *but all from same batch* It also has a smaller holder that I find more comfortable others might not like the smaller holder. https://www.amazon.com/OLFA-AK-1-Standard-Knife-Blades/dp/B0006SJAXE/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_w=nP7ov&content-id=amzn1.sym.116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf_rd_p=116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf_rd_r=FS66A761XDW6W4PD69ZR&pd_rd_wg=bQchy&pd_rd_r=1df11d3e-3f06-46b9-94eb-83d91b517f87&pd_rd_i=B0006SJAXE&psc=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted February 1 Report Share Posted February 1 2 minutes ago, CaseyLouque said: I have one of these also, got it at Lowe's the big box store. I haven't used it yet though. Why do they call it a big box store. I've never seen any big boxes for sale there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephan Osthorst Posted February 4 Report Share Posted February 4 On 2/1/2023 at 11:47 AM, Don Noon said: The linked knives look too wide and fat to me for purfling work. I suppose you could taper them down to a good working dimension, but that's just grinding away a lot of metal, leaving a long sharp edge, most of which is only there to cut your fingers. I only have to cut the corner tips, and my choice for that is a scalpel. The "best knife" (for me) for rest is a carbide min-endmill. For $7 on Amazon: scalpel + blades I too am in the scalpel camp, Swann-Morton, easy to get cheap, lethal sharp interchangeable blades. As you said, the "best knife" for me that I've used for this purpose so far. Only downside is they are not the most comfortable shape.. But then I guess they really were just designed for soft tissue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.