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When I was in Argentina back in '79-'80, I was in Bariloche and there is an island "Lake Nahuel Huapi" where there is a tree that only grows on that island. I wish I could remember what the name was, but I picked up some burl while I was there



I was thinking of actually just cutting a slice, adding some inside purflings and then keeping the outside edge and inlay it to the top. Definitely not symmetrical, but definitely interesting. I'm not sure how I would route the outside edge to keep it tight - maybe route slightly bigger and fill with ebony dust?

Anyway, thoughts on this strange idea? Has anyone else seen some very unsymmetrical Rosette designs? This could be a WOW rosette, or it could be a "OMG, what did you do to that beautiful top!" rosette.

Thoughts/opinions/examples wanted.
Steve

Send me a slice and I'll do it for you
Go for it, I think it would look great. The outer edge is indeed tricky, due to the non-vertical edge of the burl slice... I suppose the ebony dust would probably be best. Even if you did carefully cut the edge vertical, it would destroy some of the true natural edge, which would remain visible with the filler method. Burls often have little pin holes and voids that need some sort of filler anyway, so you could get those while you're at it

And I really would like a slice, if you're willing to sell and get more than one good rosette diameter.

Let me see how good a cut I can get off this. If I can get a few good cuts, you're welcome to one.

I'm really excited to see if this will look good. A minimalistic purfling scheme inside to not detract. Definitely not traditional for a classical guitar, but, hey, why do we always have to be traditional. The sound will be the same, just a really eye-popping design.

I'll cut some this afternoon and post some pics of what I get.

Steve

I think it would make an incredible rosette! Can't wait to see it. And do leave the outside edge natural. I think filling with ebony dust would give the same effect as a black purfling line, but be a hell of a lot easier to pull off!

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PMoMC

Another option is to inlay your slice into a contrasting piece of wood and cut a circular rosette out of that. Kind of like using a sapwood edge on burl like this. It would still look organic but more refined.

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Kent that is beautiful! I love the non-traditional look.

Here are a couple slices and a possible harringbone color scheme.

Keep the thoughts coming.
Steve

Ought to give a neat variable line width too, where the burl edge is angled to leave a wider pit below surface level

Thank you for your willingness to share, Steve! Those slices look very nice. What sort of diameter are they?

I'm actually leaning more toward epoxy filler for the voids now... Maybe glue to a black backing, inlay, fill outer edge with ebony dust to give it an outline, and fill other voids with epoxy for a somewhat 3D look.

I agree on keeping the inside purfling minimal. Not because it wouldn't look good on a more flashy guitar, but because it can make such a statement on its own, I don't want to draw attention away from it Perhaps a simple .02 black, .02 curly maple, .02 black ring. But depends on the rest of the guitar's design. I've got a few on my to-do list that I think it would work well on.

These are about .085 in thickness. I can get a few more slices out of the burl. PM me if you want one and I'll do what I can to get it to you.

I do think it will be interesting. I'm going to try to inlay it in the sample top it's sitting on and see what it looks like. Give me to the weekend and I'll have something to show you.

Steve