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I've been playing with my laser engraver again....and come up with some new rosette designs that I think I'm going to use on my next batch of guitars:









Wadyathink?

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

What kind of laser engraver and how did you do the dark and light?

Mike (cool stuff!)

All three of those look really great!

It sounds like you have some cool tools to play with.

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Thanks,
Blain

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"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

Rosettes? I only see three very nice spruce tops there

Honestly, those are cool looking rosettes.

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Thanks guys. I'm still messing around with various designs - I have some that don't "conform" to the normal circular soundhole/rosette convention. I'll audition those as and when I think they're ready.....

Mike - I have a 45W Epilog 36EXT laser engraving machine. It has two modes of operation. One, raster mode, which allows me to engrave on a surface (like wood, cloth, some plastics, anodized aluminim). I can laser engrave a picture into a piece of wood (for a box lid, or soundboard motif, whatever) with this mode. Second, vector mode, which allows me to accurately cut out shapes from wood, cloth, etc.... It's this second mode that I use to cut out tiny pieces of a jigsaw puzzle of 1/16" thick pieces of wood to make the rosettes. I also use this mode to cut veneer to do marquetry.

Here's a piccy of some of the spare pieces (yes, I always cut more than I need in case I break some) from one of the above rosettes. This will give you an idea of how it works.



Yes, it's a very cool tool. I don't know what I'd do without it now.....

Cheers,
Dave F.

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"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Dave,

That's very nicely cut! I am particularly intrigued by the spiral pattern. You must know that its a traditional Minoan interlocking spiral? Each end of the spiral nests in the other end of the one beside it.

I used that spiral pattern a few years back, without the advantage of a laser engraver. Analog hand operations for the whole thing.

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Sooooooo, what does one of those bad boys sell for?

Mike

Nice rosette designs Dave, very creative.

i really like the last one

I like the last one also. The first one doesn't do anything for me. Doug's is nice.

Now that is just too cool. I like the last one best. In case you didn't know, using a laser is cheating. Of course I only say this because I can't afford one.

Steve

The easiest way I can think of is to carve out the design, and fill it with epoxy/wood filler, to get fancy designs without a lazer. You can make your own chisels pretty cheap with round tool steel, or square.

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Dave, Any reason why you choose a laser over a CNC router? Seems like the CNC would serve alot more use and the cost would be alot less?

Chris P. - I bought my first laser engraving machine about 5 years ago (I'm on my 3rd different one now) to do marquetry work. A CNC router isn't much good for that. I still do marquetry for fun and for sale at a local gallery. When I started making guitars, I quickly found uses for it (such as this inlay stuff, cutting out the soundboard, making custom jigs etc.). Ever since I mastered the craft side of it, I've been exploring the art side - and found I still have a lot to learn about art! I would LOVE to own a CNC router. It's number 1 on my tools wish list. However, the reality is that it's probably going to be several years before I'll be able to afford one that I want (e.g. ShopBot 96" job with spindle and all the trimmings, somewhere in the $15K region).

Chris V. - If you really want one, I can oblige. PM me.... In fact, if anyone wants a custom rosette making, let me know, I have the technology and time (right now, but maybe not in a few weeks).

Mike - $30K for the one I have, but you can get entry-level models for under $10K now....

Doug - That's mighty fine handcrafted work there sir!! Like they say, there's nothing new under the sun.....I was sure I'd seen a spiral/swirl like my design before. Mine's not quite the same in that it doesn't join up all the way around, but it's sure close! I'll probably have a go at the Minoan version sometime.

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

30K??

Wow!

What makes it worth that much?

Mike

I have seen guitar factories that use lasers instead of CNC because you don't need to hold the part down rigidly since there are no reaction forces from the cutting. Holding small parts is actually pretty tricky, it is much easier to hold something that is big.

Olson has some similar looking wooden inlay examples on his website...he also uses a laser as do Martin, Taylor, and others I'm sure...

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