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Laminated plastic sheets are cut into strips to become the black and white decorative purfling.
A rack holds a confusing array of laminated and plain binding and purfling.
The slow work begins with gluing and taping the purfling and binding in place.
Masking tape holds the binding on the edge as it is glued with a solvent based adhesive.
For increased clamping pressure, the entire body is overwrapped with a heavy cotton cord material.
Fancy guitars require more hand inlaid purfling. This one is getting ready for the pearl bordering around the end of the fingerboard
Temporary plastic spacing material is removed from the soundhole rings so abalone sections can be inlaid.
It's close work.
After all binding and purfling is applied and leveled, bodies get a leveling on a large "stroke" sander.
Final sanding before finishing.
Rough cutting neck billets.
Necks are carved with precision on this CNC machine.
Fingerboards are cut on CNC equipment, too, but require a bit of hand cleanup.
This is the fixture for drilling and inlaying the edge position inlay dots.
Binding the edges of the fingerboard.

Cleaning out the excess glue and dust from fret slots, using a high speed reciprocating saw similar to an orthopedist's cast removal saw.

Frets are placed and tapped into position by hand.
Final "seating" of the frets using an arbor press.
Fingerboards without edge binding need to have their fret slot ends sealed.
Leveling the sealed slot ends.
Peghead veneering.
Installing adjustable truss rods.
A row of modern pneumatic clamps make quick work of gluing fingerboards to necks.
As in most factories, fixture and process development is an ongoing affair. Here, the same job is done with screw clamps.
A batch of HD-28V necks.
For special contours, shaping and detail work, there are work stations for hand operations.
"Detailing" the peghead.
I'm not sure, but I think he's getting ready to play a little "air guitar."
Slotted pegheads require special attention.
The body and neck are completed now, and ready to get their first "fitting."
Adjusting the fit of a dovetail.
Checking.
And, rechecking. That's how it gets done right.
Final sanding of the neck before staining and filling.
More sanding. Here, a "downdraft" table draws the dust down and away. Even with all this sawing, routing, milling and sanding, the Martin factory has remarkably clean fresh air.
Tuner holes are drilled all at once on a six spindle drill press.
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