Ready for the Purfling

Ready to cut the purfling groove now, on the Birch one that is. The outlines are done and the corners look OK. My home made purfling marker is in the picture as well. I got the design from a neat book called Making Stringed Instruments, a Workshop Guide, by George Buchanan. It's a no nonsense, get in there and do it book, that is not pretentious, bogged down with rules, or mired with measurements. It's probably also why I haven't "sweated the details" like violin makers are supposed to do. The marking gauge is extra long, so it will work for cellos as well, and is meant to be used when the instrument is assembled. With a sharp blade, and a light touch, it does a good job, and the measurement from the edge stays the same from start to finish. When I started making violins I was under the mistaken impression that the purfling groove was directly over the ribs, but I also thought the overhang was 3.5-4mm, not approx 2.5mm. I would adjust my marker to whatever my overhang was for the outside edge of the purfling. Now putting the marker at 4.5mm or so for the outside edge seems like a long ways in. I guess it gives me more room for a "real" edge treatment, that is to say, one with a plan.
I've been feeling really good the last few days. The remnants of the accident are a distant memory, even with the gloomy weather. In another week or so I will be back to work so I'll have to enjoy the time off any way I can. I think I will use the form I used for the Birch violin to make a set of ribs for the plates I have that are already cut to the finished outline. I don't know why I did that, they are a couple years old, but it will be a challenge to make a ribcage to fit finished plates. Usually I left them a little larger than the outline. I have another painting I want to do, but the weather hasn't cooperated so I can take a photo with the sun shining from the right spot. That painting has more experimental techniques in it like the last one. Nothing really new, just stuff I've never tried. In school we used different kinds of washes, and dry brush techniques, but that was about it.