Once again, I don’t have any intention of writing tutorials on how to perform different operations in guitar-making but some people like a glimpse into our world.  There is a lot of work in binding and purfling, both in preparing it beforehand and bending it and then cutting the rebate in the top and back.  In the Spanish method the marking gauge (or more commonly the router) doesn’t reach into the heel area or the neck area so that has to be done freehand.  Working on the softwood of the top is quite quick but the back takes some time.  I modified a backsaw to approximate the curve of the purfling at the heel and making a series of cuts I can get very close in a short time.

Cutting the various strips in such a way that the union at or near the centreline is as subtle as possible is another challenge.  Some cut it at the last minute but I tie it up dry as you see and cut it to size.  It usually has to be cut once again at the last minute while glueing but that is just a shaving off one end.  As always, hide glue is the way to go, it sucks the binding right into the channel and the high tack maks it grab when you reheat it making string clamping more than enough pressure.  Reheating is extremely important as you use the hot hammer to press the purfling down and the binding in against the side of the guitar.  Again, some people do things differently but here we put the end graft in after the binding is dry.  You can take all the time you like to fit it and then just pop it in with glue.