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I have joined two tops of spruce and inlaid my rosette.

Should I thickness it to the final thickness and then cut the sound hole or cut the sound hole and then final thickness?

J

I thickness first.

Either way will work. I thickness first, but I think I'm in the minority.

You'll want to install your rosette before you cut out the sound hole.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

I usually thickness it and make sure everything is cool with the rosette.Like making sure it is flush with the top.Then I`ll usually thickness from the back side of the top and then cut out the sound hole. James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

My sequence is join, cut to oversize guitar shape, thickness (hand planes), rosette, cut soundhole.

Easier to sand the rosette flat to the surface if there isn't a hole to fall into, and there's no real advantage to cutting it early, that I'm aware of.

I'm usually tapping the top and feeling deflection during final thicknessing so I do it after I cut the sound hole. I Install the rosette while still thick and sand flush from the top then cut the sound hole and thickness from the back.

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