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So I am in the process, a very slow one, of building my first guitar. Im in the the competition for first time builders but am not sure I can make the deadline or not with everything else going on in my limited shop time.

Anyways, I just put together my first rosette and just made something up on a pad of paper. This is the vague execution of the design, kinda veered off track of my original design but oh well. Just curious about opinions on my first attempt at a rosette, my original design. Should I stick with it or should I go with something more traditional? I have a herringbone style rosette that came with my unserviced LMI kit. I am fairly happy with how it turned out but would like some opinions from trained professionals.

If I do stick with this rosette I'd like to add purfling around the inside and out of the pattern. How should I go about adding it? I was thinking of gluing the rosette in place, let it dry, level it, and then route a small channel to fit the purfling lines. Is this standard procedure or should I create a trench that is large enough for the rosette and purfling lines, glue it all together?

Bear with me, this is all very new to me.

Included is a picture of my circle router guide I made up for this. Worked surprisingly very well.

I would go with your own rosette, Anthony. Yours looks great, and you made it!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I agree with using your own rosette and what's important IMO is size and scale which I'm just learning after making one too big and one too small. Your initial attempt looks a bit large for my eyes but that's only one opinion.

I have a VERY similar circle cutter to yours and it has a very good micro adjustment. What I do is mark the location of the rosette as close as I can with a pencil then begin routing the channel. I 'sneak up' on each edge until the rosette fits, then gradually increase both inside and outside diameters (one at a time) until both purfs fit. Take your time and take very small bites and you should get it to where the rosette and purfs will fit very very snug. I then flood with CA. Done. As always wait for others who know more.

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It's a bit easier to make the purf cuts after, assuming you have the exact size bit to fit the purling...

I like it. I do think it's a little on the wide side, but hey design is not my strong point. as far as the purfling I would add it with the rosette. Make a channel large enough for it all and put it all in together.

I like it. Reminds me of milk snake colors I do agree with Larry that it's already pretty large, so if I were you, I'd inlay the ring, and then route for the purfling lines, with the outer one cutting away rosette material rather than enlarging it any further.

It will look especially nice after the spruce darkens some with age so the maple shows up brighter.

I agree in that it is def wide enough as is and was my original plan to route out the purf channel by cutting away rosette material. But this isn't something I have any experience so I was just getting some helpful hints. Thanks for the feedback so far.

Its best to mill the channel for the outer and inner purfs after inlaying the rosette. That way any imperfection of the outer edge of the rosette and/or the channel itself is routed away.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

So how do I get my hands on some purfling lines that are that thin? Do I just buy some veneer and make my own?

You could or you could find a bit that matches existing purfs. Making your own is cool though.

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PMoMC

Nice circle cutter!
Agree the rosette has a nice design, but maybe a little wide.
I too route the purfs after inlaying the rosette....

Hey Anthony, on the wide side or not, first time out, that's a really cool rosette. I say use it!!

As a new builder myself, I went through several stages to get this right on my first ones. My advice, for what its worth, is to inlay the ring, then cut the purf lines. I tried it the other way, and over and over I would have one spot where the purfling wouldn't go in all the way, and would sand out to nothing. Ended up making several, and even had to order more top material and start over before I got it right.

As for the purfling material, LMI sells some sheets of material that I used. I bought one white and one black. Not sure what the material actually is, probably close to cardboard, which is wood after all. But with this stuff, I could cut strips as needed off the edge, with plenty left over. It bends wonderfully, and is easy to work with. I also used it when binding the outside of one of mine as an accent stripe.

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Phil

http://www.oleninstruments.com

"Those who tilt at windmills are only considered insane by those who can't see the dragon."

Really nice rosette. I would stick with it. I would definitely take the advice above and inlay the purflings after.

I am also building my first for the challenge build. There are some really good tutorials on here for making your own herringbone etc.
It's not that hard, just a little time consuming. But you will end up with enough for several guitars so I'd say it's work the effort.

One thing: Seal your channel before inlaying your rosette. ESPECIALLY if using fish glue. I learned this the hard way.

So when you say seal the channel does this mean the bottom as well? I may be using fish glue as I bought it for this build from Lee Valley. But it seems counter intuitive to seal off the channel before applying glue as I would loose my bonding surfaces. Or am i supposed to just seal off the small walls of the channel to prevent the end grain from soaking in the glue?

make yourself a purfling scraper like Dan Miller viewtopic.php?f=10134&t=38883&p=519439&hilit=+purfling+scraper+#p519439

Then you can make your own binding, purfling etc.

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