Abstract:
A method of fabricating shell purfling strips having sufficient flexibility to be placed within a curved configuration. The shell purfling strips may be placed, as a single unit, in curved channels which require the strip to bend. The flexibility results from a laminated structure comprising a layer of binding material overlain by an organic shell layer, with a bonding agent attaching the layers together. The organic shell layer comprises a plurality of precisely placed breaks along its length. The binding material retains the individual fragments of the shell layer in the strip, but because the binding material comprises a flexible material, such as rubber, the layer of binding material is sufficiently flexible to allow the purfling strip to flex longitudinally and transversely. The shell purfling strips may be attached in parallel relationship to other perfling components allowing installation as a unit.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/221,064 which was filed on Jul. 29, 2008, for which application this inventor claims domestic priority. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention generally relates to the construction of finely crafted wooden objects, such as musical instruments, cutlery and curios, in which the wooden object includes an inlay portion for ornamentation or functional purpose, such as inlay which forms an ornamental border adjacent to the outside edges of an instrument. An inlay is a material set within a depression or channel formed in a matrix material where, once installed, the top surface of the inlay is generally flush with the surface of the matrix material. Although many different materials may be utilized as the inlay material, organic shell materials such as abalone, oyster and snail have been found to be particularly suitable as inlay material because of the lustrous and luminescent appearance of these materials. The material traditionally used for musical instruments, such as steel-string guitars, is abalone, a shell of the mollusk family, which has attractive patterns and can reflect many different colors. Pure shell material is often referred to slab. It is cut straight from the curved inside surface of the shell and then sanded flat to uniform thickness, such as 0.050″. Because the pieces are cut from the curved surface of the shell, the pieces are often sawn into odd and irregular shaped pieces, referred to as “blanks”. 
         [0003]    As recognized in U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,581 (Sifel et al.), the use of these organic shell materials for inlay purposes is problematic because of the difficulty in obtaining shell pieces of sufficient thickness. Sifel discloses a organic shell inlay blank which may be utilized as a substitute for the shell fragments utilized by the prior art. Sifel&#39;s inlay blank comprises overlapping flexible layers of organic shell material with a bonding agent disposed between the layers. Sifel&#39;s blank is referred to by those skilled in the art as ABALAM or Ablam (hereinafter collectively referred to as ABALAM). This inlay material is made by laminating extremely thin sections of shell in such a way as to render the entire surface of the sheet with beautiful, figured shell patterns. Unlike natural shell slab pieces which have a varying surface area and depth, ABALAM is perfectly flat and easier to saw into delicate patterns because of the homogeneous nature of the laminations. ABALAM is frequently preferred when large pieces of inlay material are required. 
         [0004]    When applied as inlay materials for musical instruments, ABALAM blanks are typically sawn or cut into thin strips of uniform width (usually about 0.040-0.060″ wide). These strips may be utilized for a variety of purposes, including fashioning purfling and the rosette of the instrument. “Purfling” (sometimes spelled “perfling”) is the term used for a decorative border. Purfling is commonly used in conjunction with the “binding”, which is seated at the outermost corner of the instrument. The binding is fashioned from pieces of wood, plastic or fiber which are heated and then bent to fit around the curved edges of the instrument. The purflings are disposed between the binding and the adjacent edges formed by the top, sides, or back of the instrument. The binding serves to protect the edges of the instrument from impacts which might otherwise initiate a crack in the top of the instrument. In contrast, the purfling is purely decorative. 
         [0005]    The purfling, like the binding, generally follows the bends and curves of the instrument. The purling is placed in a channel preformed by the edge of the top (or sides or bottom) on one side and the edge of the binding on the other side. Once the purfling is placed within the channel, the top (or sides or bottom) of the instrument may be sanded or scraped such that the surface of the top is flush with the purfling, creating the decorative border. 
         [0006]    When organic shell materials, such as mother-of-pearl or abalone, are used for purfling, it is often referred to as “shell purfling.” Various other materials, such as wood or wood fiber, may be utilized instead of place of the shell purfling, or in combination with the shell purfling, such that the outside edge of a musical instrument may have an outside border formed with wood fiber purfling and a border of shell purfling immediately adjacent to the wood fiber purfling. The result is a crisp, dark border formed by the wood fiber which accentuates the flashy or luminescent appearance of the shell. The wood purfling, sometimes referred to as “marquetry,” may comprise different colors, but is often alternating strips of light and dark material. The wood purfling may also come in different patterns, such as parallel lines or in a herringbone configuration. A frequently used and visually appealing configuration is a first border formed with a black-white-black wood purfling strip, an inner band of shell purfling, and a second border of black-white-black purfling strip, such that the shell purfling is sandwiched between the two wood purfling strips. It is to be appreciated that various materials may be utilized to simulate wood purfling, including not only wood, but wood fiber, plastic, and other materials. Further references to “wood purfling” should be understood to include simulated wood products. 
         [0007]    The installation of shell purfling can be a time-consuming process. One of the limitations of the known shell purfling strips is that the strips are not flexible and cannot be bent in the same manner as the binding. The lack of flexibility is problematic when it is desired for the inlay to be curved, which is typically the case for purfling used on instruments. The purfling of a conventional acoustic guitar requires the inlay material to placed through or around many curves which have too tight of a radius for the shell strips to achieve without breaking. One known solution to this problem is to break the strips into very, very short individual pieces as it is being inlaid into the preformed channel, in a mosaic-like method. Once in the channel, even though each short piece is straight, the cumulative effect of utilizing the individual pieces is that the inlay strips follow the desired curve of the instrument or other work piece. However, this process is very time consuming and labor-intensive. 
         [0008]    In another method, instead of breaking the inlay strips into small pieces, ABALAM blanks are milled by a computer numerically controlled (“CNC”) milling machine, or other computer controlled machine, such that the inlay strips fit exactly into the preformed channel formed by the edge of the top and the inside edge of the binding. In other words, each piece of the inlay is precisely cut to fit into a particular segment of the channel. In this method, a smaller number of pre-cut inlay pieces (such as 7 to 15 pieces) are necessary for the shell purfling. However, there are disadvantages associated with this method as well. The machinery required for this method is expensive, and the programming and milling time for each shape can require substantial time. The inventory requirements for the inlay material can also be difficult for smaller manufacturers, because different instrument models and configurations utilize different shapes of inlay material. This method also results in greater waste of shell material than the previously described method and the method disclosed herein. 
         [0009]    Each of the processes described above is time consuming for another reason. Under the known methods, including the method disclosed herein, the channel for placement of the shell purfling and other purfling elements (including wood purfling) on a musical instrument is created by the edge of the binding on one side and the outside edge of the top. It should be understood that musical instruments may also include purfling on the bottom and sides of the instrument. Binding is also used at the joint of the sides of the instrument with the bottom. Therefore, references herein describing use of the disclosed purfling to ornament the top of an instrument should further be understood to also apply to the bottom and/or sides of the instrument. When the binding is glued along the sides of the instrument, strips of TEFLON (or other materials which will not be held by the glue such as polyethylene) are used as a temporary spacer for the space which will be occupied by the shell purfling, such that the wood purfling can be glued in place as the binding is installed. Once the glue has dried and adequately set up, the TEFLON strips are removed and the individual pieces of shell purfling are placed and glued into the channel. This process requires that the TEFLON be milled or cut to the size of the desired piece of shell purfling so the shell purfling will fit tightly into the portion of the channel vacated by the TEFLON. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    The presently disclosed invention is a method of fabricating a flexible shell purfling strip which may be installed at the same time as the binding and other purfling elements. The flexible shell purfling strips have sufficient flexibility to be placed within a curved configuration in significantly longer pieces rather than a small piece at a time, thereby significantly reducing the amount of time required to install the shell purfling. The presently disclosed invention provides a method of manufacturing the flexible shell purfling strips. An embodiment of the disclosed invention utilizes shell blanks fashioned from abalone, oyster, or other organic shell materials, including ABALAM or other laminated shell blanks or materials. 
         [0011]    Flexible shell purfling strips manufactured according to the present method are flexible along the long axis of the strip thereby allowing the shell purfling strips to be placed, as a single unit, in curved channels in both the top of an instrument which requires the strips to bend with respect to the longitudinal axis. The strips are also flexible with respect to the transverse axis which allows the shell purfling strips to be placed, as a single unit, in channels in the side of an instrument which follow the curves of the waist of the instrument. This flexibility is created by creating a laminated structure which comprises a layer of binding material which is overlain by a layer of organic shell matter, where a bonding agent adheres the two layers together. The organic shell layer comprises a plurality of breaks along the length of the strip. The binding material retains the individual fragments of the shell layer in a strip configuration, but because the binding material comprises a flexible material, such as rubber, the layer of binding material is sufficiently flexible to allow the purfling strip to flex longitudinally and transversely. 
         [0012]    The flexible strips may be installed in any work piece where it is desirable to form curved sections of shell inlay on the work piece. Because the purfling strips may be installed as a unit as opposed to small segments of shell material, installation of the inlay strip is done much faster than the known shell purfling strips. A plurality of shell purfling strips may be attached, in an end-to-end configuration, to the side of a wood purfling strip, such that an entire unit of shell purfling/wood purfling may be installed in a preformed channel in a single step. Because the shell purfling strips are about as flexible as TEFLON strips, the shell purfling strips can be installed simultaneously with the binding, eliminating the need for installing and removing the TEFLON. 
         [0013]    The flexible shell purfling strips are manufactured by milling a shell blank, such as ABALAM, into a plurality of strips. The strips are typically cut with the shell blank mounted to a rigid substrate with a water soluble adhesive, with the top side of the shell blank glued to the rigid substrate. The shell blank is cut into a plurality of parallel strips, but the cutting machinery is set such that the rigid substrate is not cut through. Once the strips have been cut, the strips are removed from the substrate by dissolving the water soluble adhesive. 
         [0014]    In one embodiment of the manufacturing method, the individual strips are thereafter remounted in parallel configuration, with sides of the strips abutting the sides of the adjacent strips, to a second rigid substrate. A layer of binding material is thereafter attached to the bottom side of the strips with a bonding agent. Once the bonding agent has sufficiently dried and cured, the assembly comprising the substrate, the shell strips, and the layer of binding material is placed again into the cutting machinery, such that angle of the new cuts will be at approximately ninety degrees from the angle of the first cuts. Once again, the cutting machinery is set such that the rigid substrate is not cut through, but the shell strips and binding material are cut into “strips” which are at approximately ninety degrees from the strips made by the previous cutting step. Once the new strips have been cut, the strips are removed from the second rigid substrate by dissolving the water soluble adhesive. Each resulting shell purfling strip comprises a plurality of individual segments of shell material in an end-to-end configuration, with the individual segments held together as a strip by the binding material. When a shell purfling strip is placed within the preformed channel and glued therein, the side of the strip having the binding material is placed facing the bottom of the channel, with the layer of shell material facing upward. 
         [0015]    The flexible shell purfling strips may also be attached along one side to a parallel and side abutting wood purfling strip, wherein the wood purfling strip comprises adhesive on the side abutting the shell purfling strip. Wood purfling strips typically come in lengths of thirty-two inches. If the shell purfling strips are manufactured from ABALAM or similar blank material, the shell blanks typically come in sheets 2 3/16 inches by 4⅝ inches, such that the shell purfling strips will typically be shorter than the wood purfling strips. Because of the different lengths, a plurality of shell purfling strips may be placed in an end-to-end configuration and consecutively attached to the side of a fiber purfling strip, resulting in a single purfling strip of parallel shell and wood elements which is long enough to extend around the outside border of one half of a standard sized instrument. The combined shell/wood purfling strips may be installed in minutes, thus allowing the completion of an instrument in substantially less time than the known methods. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  shows pieces of abalone or mother-of-pearl blanks as cut from the shell. 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  shows rectangular sheets of flat organic shell blanks. 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  shows strips of organic inlay material after cutting the shell blanks shown in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  shows how the strips of  FIG. 3  are segmented into small pieces for insertion into a workpiece according to the presently practiced method. 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  shows a musical instrument having shell purfling bounding the outer edge of the soundboard of the instrument. 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  shows a close-up view of the shell purfling of  FIG. 5 , showing how the shell purfling may be bounded on either side by wood purfling material. 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  shows how shell purfling may also be utilized to ornament the side walls of a musical instrument. 
           [0023]      FIG. 8  schematically shows how the channel for the purfling is formed between the binding and the top of an instrument. 
           [0024]      FIG. 9  shows a schematic view of the end of an embodiment of a shell purfling strip manufactured according to the disclosed method. 
           [0025]      FIG. 10  shows a schematic view of the side of an embodiment of a shell purfling strip manufactured according to the disclosed method. 
           [0026]      FIG. 11  shows a rectangular sheet of flat shell blank glued to a rigid substrate, after the blank has been cut into strips along the length of the shell blank. 
           [0027]      FIG. 12  shows the strips of organic shell of  FIG. 11  after the strips have been removed from the rigid substrate. 
           [0028]      FIG. 13  shows the strips of  FIG. 12  remounted to a rigid substrate and having a sheet of binding material, such as polyurethane, affixed to the top surface of the shell strips. 
           [0029]      FIG. 14  shows the structure of  FIG. 13  after the polyurethane and underlying strips of organic shell have been cut along the width of the structure, where the support member is not cut all of the way through. 
           [0030]      FIG. 15  shows a jig assembly which might be utilized to attach, in lengthwise arrangement, a plurality of strips of shell purfling to the side of a first strip of wood purfling, where a second strip of wood purfling is utilized on the opposite side of the organic shell strip to prevent crushing of the organic shell material. 
           [0031]      FIG. 16  shows a close up of the first strip of wood purfling, showing how the backing is pulled away from the side of the purfling as it is fed into the guide of the jig, uncovering an adhesive layer for attachment to the shell purfling strips. 
           [0032]      FIG. 17  shows the first strip and second strip of the wood purfling in position in the jig assembly prior to the insertion of a strip of the shell purfling. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Current Practice for Installing Shell Purfling 
       [0033]    Referring now to the figures,  FIG. 1  shows examples of the shapes of blanks  10  which might be obtained directly from an organic shell. Because the blanks  10  are obtained directly from the shell, the size and shape of the blanks are limited by the size and geometry of the shell.  FIG. 2  shows examples of organic shell inlay blanks  12  which have been processed into a sheet configuration. For example, such shell inlay blanks may be manufactured according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,581 (Sifel et al) to form a shell blank known as ABALAM. When ABALAM or similar shell blanks  12  are utilized for shell purfling, the sheets are typically cut into long strips  14  as shown in  FIG. 3 . In order to be used to form purfling having curving features, the long strips  14  are typically cut into shorter pieces  16  as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Utilizing these shorter pieces  16 , an ornamental border  18  may be placed around the perimeter of the face  20  of a musical instrument, such as a guitar  22  shown in  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 6  shows a close up view of an ornamental border  18  formed with the shorter pieces  16  of shell purfling. 
         [0034]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , the ornamental border  18  formed by the shell purfling may be bordered on each side by wood purfling strips  22 . The wood purfling strips  22  are typically available in lengths of thirty-two inches. Because of the relatively small width of the wood purfling strips  22  and the flexibility of the materials used for the fabrication of the strips, the wood purfling strips are usually flexible enough to be installed around curves of an instrument without performing the wood purfling strips or cutting the strips into smaller segments as required for installation of shell purfling according to the prior art. 
         [0035]    Aside from the top  20  of a musical instrument, other portions of a musical instrument may be ornamented with shell purfling. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the sides  24  of a musical instrument may be ornamented with ornamental border  18 ′ which is adjacent to the top  20  and the back  26  of the instrument. As can be seen by comparing  FIGS. 5-6  with  FIG. 7 , when ornamental border  18 ′ comprising shell purfling is placed around the sides  24  of a musical instrument, the curves which must be negotiated by the purfling change. Assuming the top  20  of the instrument may be defined by a single plane, the curve of the ornamental border  18  requires flexibility of the shell purfling segments in two dimensions, where the top surface, or show face  30  of the shell purfling remains in the same plane as the top of the instrument. For purposes of this specification, this flexibility, where the show face  30  of the shell purfling remains in a single plane, is referred to herein as longitudinal flexibility. However, the sides  24  of an instrument typically are not defined by a single plane, because the instrument will usually have some form of waist  28 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , when an ornamental border  18 ′ of shell purfling is placed about the sides  24  of an instrument, the show face  30  of the shell purfling follows the shape of the sides, such that the show face cannot be defined by a single plane. Therefore, a shell purfling strip would have to be flexible about its show face  30  for a single strip to be utilized as a significant portion of the side purfling. This flexibility is referred to herein as transverse flexibility. While wood purfling strips typically have both longitudinal flexibility and transverse flexibility, the known shell purfling strips have neither, thus requiring the strips to be cut into shorter pieces  16  as indicated in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0036]    When inlay materials are placed within a work piece, the materials are set within a depression or channel.  FIG. 8  shows schematically how a channel  32  for placement of purfling  18  is typically preformed in the top of a musical instrument. The top  20  and sides  24  of the instrument are first routed to form a seat for the binding  34  to partially form channel  32 . Binding  34  is thereafter seated at the outermost corner of the instrument, thereby forming the outer wall of channel  32 , where the inner wall is formed by the edge of top  20 . Channels may similarly be formed between the edge of the binding  34  and the sides  24  of an instrument, or the back  26  of an instrument, such that ornamental borders of shell purfling may be placed in the sides and/or back of the instrument. 
       The Present Invention 
       [0037]    The shell purfling strips  100  manufactured according to the present method have both longitudinal flexibility and transverse flexibility, which allows the strips to be installed in full length strips in the preformed channels of a work piece as opposed to being cut into shorter pieces  16  according to the current practice. As shown in  FIG. 9 , the shell purfling strips  100  of the present method comprise a laminated structure. This laminated structure comprises a first layer  36  of binding material and a second layer  38  of organic shell matter, which might comprise either shell blanks  10  as shown in  FIG. 1 , or strips  14  cut from a sheet  12  of manufactured shell laminate, such as ABALAM. The binding material used for first layer  36  has both longitudinal and transverse flexibility. Among the acceptable binding materials are polyurethane and acetate. First layer  36  has a first length and second layer  38  has a second length, wherein the first length and second length will usually be equivalent. First layer  36  has a a channel-facing surface  40 , which is the surface which comes into contact with the bottom surface of channel  32 . First layer  36  further comprises a shell-facing surface  42  which is the surface which abuts second layer  38 . A first thickness is defined between the channel-facing surface  40  and the shell facing surface  42 . This first thickness is generally 0.010 inches, depending upon the binding material and its properties. Second layer  38  has an exposed surface previously identified as show face  30 . Second layer  38  also comprises a binding-material facing surface  44 . A second thickness is defined between the exposed surface and the binding-material facing surface. This second thickness will be the thickness of the organic shell matter which, if ABALAM or a similar product is utilized, will be approximately 0.050 inches. Second layer  38  comprises a plurality of breaks  46  interposed along its length, referred to above as the second length. 
         [0038]    A bonding agent  50  is disposed between the shell-facing surface  42  of the first layer  36  and the binding-material facing surface  44  of the second layer  38 . The bonding agent  50  attaches the first layer  36  to the second layer  38 . Various bonding agents may be utilized, including high performance adhesive transfer tape manufactured by 3M, including model number 467 MP or transfer tapes utilizing 3M 300LSE adhesive. 
         [0039]    Breaks  46  typically, but not necessarily, extend completely through second layer  38 , thereby forming individual segments  48  which are bound together with first layer  36  of binding material. The individual segments  48  may each comprise a rectangular solid segment, where the second layer comprises a plurality of rectangular solid segments. Breaks  46  may be made to the individual strips by machining or impact means. Breaks  46  may also be made according to the method described below. 
         [0040]    A method for creating the shell purfling strips  100  from sheets  12  of shell blank material, such as ABALAM, comprises the following steps. Using hide glue, a sheet of shell blank  12  is glued face down to a sheet of rigid substrate material  52 , such as Masonite or similar material, typically having dimensions of W×L. The glued assembly is thereafter cut into strips  14 , but not cutting all of the way through the rigid substrate  52 . Typically this process is done by a computer numerically controlled (“CNC”) milling machine, which may have means for holding the work-piece (i.e, the glued assembly) in place by means of a vacuum seal on the bed of the CNC mill. The CNC milling maching is employed with depth control to cut the work piece such that the shell blank sheet  12  is cut into strips  14  but the rigid substrate  52  is not cut all of the way through. 
         [0041]    In a first embodiment of the method, a thin sheet (approximately 0.010″ thick) of binding material, such as acetate or polyurethane, is affixed to the back side of the sheet  12  of shell blank material (because the sheet was originally glued face-down on the rigid substrate), thereby creating a layered configuration comprising, from bottom to top, the rigid substrate  52 , the shell layer (second layer  38 ) and the binding material layer (first layer  36 ) At this point, the strips of the shell blank have been milled into the proper width (generally 0.050″) but the strips remain glued to the rigid substrate  52 . The inventor herein has found that acetate or polyurethane are the preferred backing materials because each possesses several critical properties: both are flexible enough to bend but stiff enough to retain a linear path, both are impervious to the water bath required for removal of the shell blank strips from the rigid substrate  52 , and each material holds fasts to the shell blank with the adhesives. As stated above, the inventor herein has determined that the preferred adhesives for attaching the binding material to the strips of shell blank include 467 MP or 300LSE hi-performance adhesives, manufactured by 3M Corporation, or adhesives having similar properties. 
         [0042]    In a first embodiment of the manufacturing method, after the binding material is attached to the backs of the separated milled strips, the layered assembly, which comprises rigid substrate  52 , the shell layer (second layer  38 ) and the binding material layer (first layer  36 ), is precisely located in a laser cutter. The laser cutter cuts around the perimeter of each individual strip  14  of shell material cutting clear through the binding material layer such that each strip is overlain by a separated layer of binding material, which has been separated from the binding material covering adjacent strips. After the laser cutting, the layered assembly is placed in a hot water bath to release the strips from the rigid substrate  52 , resulting in individual laminated strips comprising first layer  36  and second layer  38 . Because of the previously described laser cutting step, the first layer  36  of binding material is the exact same width and length as the individual strip  14  of shell blank as shown schematically in  FIG. 9 . 
         [0043]    The next step in this embodiment of the method is to break or cut the second layer  38  of organic shell matter into small individual segments  48  or pieces, but leaving the first layer  36  of binding material intact, resulting in shell purfling strips  100 .  FIG. 10  schematically shows the general orientation of the breaks  46  in a shell purfling strip. The means for breaking the strips into individual segments  48  or pieces may be accomplished by employing a CNC mill. If a CNC mill is used for making the breaks  46 , the flexibility of the shell purfling strips  100  may be controlled by adjusting the number of breaks by programming less or more breaks into the CNC mill as desired. 
         [0044]    Because the shell purfling strips  100  have the thin first layer  36  of binding material, the strip retains its integrity. Each individual segment  48  directly abuts an adjacent segment such that the individual breaks are not visually noticeable, particularly because of the patterned appearance of the show face  30  of the organic shell material. The resulting shell purfling strip  100  has both longitudinal and transverse flexibility such that it can be inlaid alone around the sides or edges of a channel  32  or inlaid simultaneously with the bindings and marquetry of an instrument. The shell purfling strips  100  can be glued and otherwise attached by all the traditional methods and means used in the instrument making industry. The shell purfling strips  100  made with this method may also be in other industries and arts where decorative shell trim is used (for instance, hi-end surfboards, jewelry boxes, humidors, casework, etc.). 
         [0045]    In a second embodiment of the manufacturing method, as in the embodiment disclosed above, a sheet  12  of shell blank material is glued exposed face down with hide glue to a rigid substrate  52  such as a sheet of Masonite or similar material, typically having dimensions of W×L. As illustrated in  FIG. 11 , the glued assembly is thereafter cut into strips  14 , but not cutting all of the way through the rigid substrate  52 . After being cut, strips  14  are removed from the rigid substrate  52  by dissolving the water soluble adhesive. The strips  14  are thereafter mounted to a second rigid substrate  52 ′ with a water soluble adhesive, such that the strips are arranged in parallel with one another, the parallel strips defining a long axis oriented along length L of the rigid substrate  52 ′. The sides of adjacent strips  14  are mounted such that adjacent strips abut one another in direct contact. When first mounted to second rigid substrate  52 ′, the parallel strips each comprise a front side (show side  30 ) attached to the second rigid substrate and an exposed back side. A panel  54  of binding material, such as acetate or polyurethane, is attached to the exposed back sides of the adjacent strips  14 , as shown in  FIG. 13 , utilizing a bonding agent such as 467 MP or 300LSE hi-performance adhesives, manufactured by 3M Corporation, or adhesives having similar properties. 
         [0046]    Once the bonding agent attaching panel  54  to the exposed back sides of adjacent strips  14  has sufficiently set, the layered assembly of rigid substrate  52 ′, the attached strips  14  (second layer  38 ) and the binding material layer (first layer  36 ) are placed in a cutting apparatus. The cutting apparatus cuts panel  54  of binding material and the underlying strips  14  of organic shell matter at ninety degrees to the long axis, but does not cut through rigid substrate ‘ 52 . As shown in  FIG. 14 , the resulting cuts are oriented along the width of the rigid substrate  52 ′. This cutting results in a plurality of shell purfling strips  100 , each strip having a laminated structure such as that shown in  FIG. 10 , the laminated structure comprising a first layer  36  of binding material and a second layer  38  comprising a plurality of segments  48  of organic shell matter. As further shown in  FIG. 10 , a longitudinal axis A may be defined by the length of the shell purfling strip. Each strip comprises a first side  56  and a second side  58 , where the first side  56  defines a first plane and the second side  58  defines a second plane, and the first plane and the second plane are each parallel to the longitudinal axis A. The shell purfling strips are removed from the rigid substrate  52 ′ by dissolving the water soluble adhesive, resulting in a plurality of separated shell purfling strips  100 . 
         [0047]    It is to be appreciated that the reason the strips  14  are mounted to a second rigid substrate  52 ′ is that when the strips are originally cut when mounted on the first rigid substrate  52 , the strips are separated by the width of the saw cut. If the strips, while still mounted on the first rigid substrate  52 , were immediately cut again at an angle of ninety degrees to the first cut, the gap between the plurality of segments  48  would be too large, being visually discernible. By removing the strips  14  from the first rigid substrate  52 , and remounting the strips to the second rigid substrate  52 ′, the strips are repositioned such that the strips are in contact with one another, thereby removing the space created by the first saw cut. 
         [0048]    As discussed above, wood purfling strips  22  typically comes in lengths of thirty-two inches. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the ornamental border  18  formed by the shell purfling may be bordered on each side by wood purfling  22  or other types of marquetry. Because the shell purfling strips  100  of the present invention have sufficient flexibility to be mounted at the same time as the wood purfling strips  22 , the installation of the shell purfling strips may be facilitated by pre-attaching a plurality of shell purling strips, in an end-to-end configuration, to the side of a wood purfling strip. This step results in a single perfling unit thirty-two inches in length, where the wood purfling strip acts as a reinforcement member for the plurality of shell perfling strips  100 . Therefore, an embodiment of the present invention comprises preattaching shell purfling strips  100  to a reinforcement member such as wood purfling strips  22 . The wood purfling strips are available with adhesive along the side, such that the shell purfing strips  100  may be attached in parallel length wise attachment to the wood purfling strips, with a side  56  of the shell perfling strip in lengthwise attachment to a side of the wood purfling strip. 
         [0049]    Attachment of the shell purfling strips  100  to wood purfling strips may be facilitated by using a jig  200  such as that illustrated in  FIG. 15 . As shown in  FIG. 15 , wood purfling strip  22  is fed into upper guide  202 , which guides the wood purfling strip  22  into a pair of opposite facing rollers  204  and  206 . Spacing between rollers  204  and  206  is controlled by tensioning assembly  208 . Support purfling  22 ′ is fed into lower guide  210 . The support purfling  22 ′ is used to support and protect the shell purfling strip  100 , which is fed into the center guide  212  of the jig. The shell purfling strip is only attached to wood purfling strip  22 , and is not attached to support purfling  22 ′. As shown in  FIG. 16 , the adhesive of wood purfling strip  22  is exposed by the pulling back of the backing  104  from the wood purfling strip  22 . As shown in  FIG. 17 , wood perfling strip  22  and supporting wood perfling strip  22 ′ are fed into rollers  204  and  206 . Shell purfling strip  100  is thereafter fed into center guide  212 , where downward pressure asserted on the shell purfling strip can be adjusted with adjustable dog  214 . As a first shell purfling strip is attached to wood purfling strip  22 , a second shell purfling strip can be fed into the device directly after the first, such that the entire length of the wood purfling strip has shell purfling strips attached in a side-by-side configuration. Cutout  216  allows the operator greater access to pull the purfling strips through the mechanism. The completed shell/wood purfling member  102  is removed from the jig  200  and ready for installation in a work piece. 
         [0050]    The wood purfling strip  22  is affixed to only side of the shell purfling strip  100  to allow the combined purfling member  102  to be installed in tight curves. The combined purfling member  102  simply lays into a pre-formed channel  32  in the work piece with the other, un-attached, wood purfling strip  22 . If the work piece is a musical instrument, the entire soundboard can be inlaid in this fashion in minutes, which is many times faster than the industry standard for inlaying a soundboard with shell purfling around the perimeter. 
         [0051]    While the above is a description of various embodiments of the present invention, further modifications may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus the scope of the invention should not be limited according to these factors, but according to the following claims.