Ibex Purfling Cutter

I found that it required considerable hit or miss adjustment to get the blade spacing correct and would have preferred the guide bar be a bit shorter. I cut it off. A set of precision shims would be a big help and not that expensive to provide.

Used this tool several times and worked very well. A word of caution, practice on scrap wood first! Takes a little practice to use it without making a mess.

The blade can be used for violin purfling if you do the following. I pulled this from Maestronet:
"I don't know why they send them that way, since they're not used that way! Move the inside one to the outside, and the outside to the inside. Then put a spacer between them to cut the right width. It's OK, in fact, advantageous, that the bevel of the blades will push the sides of the groove open wider like a funnel--it helps get the purfling in, and then the glue/water will swell it shut."

I also discovered that this cannot score a thin enough channel for violin purfling. I'm considering honing the thickness of the blades to get it to work. Would love to see this remedied by the maker.

I bought this cutter only to find the blade spacing is 2.1 mm (.085") which is WAY too wide to cut prurfling for a violin. Standard purfling width in a violin is 1.3 mm. This cutter may be suitale for a guitar. Cello purfling grooves are also 2 mm. so it would be useful there. Not for a violin "as is."

One idea is to invert the blades and make a 1.3 mm space to get the appropriate spacing. But then you can only lightly score the wood and then have to finish the groove with a sharp knife.

Not sure if this tool is worth the money unless Stew-Mac gets a proper set of blades in for a violin.