Finalizing the outline

1. Now is the time to finalize the outline of the plate. Clamp upside down onto the plank as when you were cutting out the outline and using a file {downstrokes only}, make sure the outline is even, smooth and true to the overhang, about 2.5 mm in our case. Leave the corners a little wider than marked.
   
2. Again, using the marking gauge, mark the height, this time of 4.5 mm, all the way around the plate.
   
3. Using a shallow gouge remove the wood along the edge farther down to the marked line. As previously, be very careful in the area of corners. Always go with or across the grain. Refer to the Fig. 3. in the previous chapter for cutting directions.
   
4. According the Fig. 1 mark a line along the whole circumference of the plate, see the red dashed line, 7 mm in at the waist and 9 mm in at the upper and lower bouts. This line will serve to limit the scope of the platform. The marking is best done with a compass, its needle following the edge of the plate.
   
   

Creating the platform

1. Using a narrow chisel (or a knife with the soft spruce), make a series of vertical incisions along the red dashed line in Fig. 1 not going too deep into the wood. Be careful in areas where the grain runs parallel to the incisions allowing the gouge to enter the wood easily.
   
2. With a shallow gouge and finally a flat chisel remove the wood and create the platform. Also, see the profile of the finished platform below.
   
3. Even out the platform using a file, if necessary. Check for flatness and also for consistent thickness of about 4.2 mm.
   
4. Take the purfling cutter and make sure its passage is unblocked by any wood, especially in the waist area.