Its time for the next step of my acoustic guitar. I’m ready to make the rosette and cut out the sound hole.
I’m making my rosette from a piece of spalted maple, and some thin strips of padauk. I used my circle cutting jig and a rotary tool to carefully cut the spalted maple to the dimensions on my plans. This went pretty well but did take some time, as I had to slowly make adjustments to the size in order to make it the correct size. Once I had the rosette made it was time to make the recess in the soundboard of the guitar. I need it to be the exact size of the spalted maple rosette so it fits well. Again, this just took some time, making tiny cuts until the fit is good.
With the rosette recess done, I just needed to cut it a tiny bit larger on the inside and outside diameter so I could outline it with some very thin strips of padauk. The padauk will give it a nice contrast of color. Then I inserted the rosette and padauk and used some CA glue to glue it all in place. A few passes on the drum sander leveled it all out.
Before I completed the thickness sanding, I went back to my circle cutting jig and adjusted it to the size of the soundhole. I again made several passes until I cut almost all the way through the soundboard. With a thin sliver of wood remaining, I sent the soundboard back through the drum sander. The drum sander sanded the tiny sliver of wood away, releasing the 2 pieces. This was a great method I got from my friend Matt Zimbelman, of Zimbelman Guitars. It prevents any chipout, and worked great.
I am very happy with the results of my first rosette. It looks awesome and the guitar is ready to move on to bracing. Thanks for stopping by, and check out the build video below.
— Affiliate Links to Products Used —
Stewmac Rotary Tool Plunge Base – https://amzn.to/3MR0xjv
Stewmac Circle Citting Jig (older version than mine) – https://amzn.to/3wanpUJ
3/32″ Spiral Downcut Bit – https://amzn.to/3Fhhpxx
Starbond Thin CA Glue (discount code below) – https://amzn.to/3yd9vn9
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