Rosette making

I want to improve the appearance of my ukes by using better rosettes and purfling.

My first rosettes were made winding strips of veneer (0.6mm) into a channel cut with a router and a jig I made. I tried doing this both on and off the uke.

I then adapted a method someone posted on this forum to make a circular random pattern (made off uke) bounded by veneer strips.

I've also bought some classical guitar style rosettes which look very good but I'd like to do something thats clearly mine.

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours making a rough rosette in scrap wood using the stick/tile method (see photo) which is the way classical guitar rosettes are made (though more complex than my simple attempt). I'm thinking of developing this technique and employing wood dyes (red, blue, green) to make brighter rosettes.

Before I do this, I'd like to see how others set about rosette making. I'd be grateful for any info on techniques/tips that other makers use.

I've done a search but didnt find much (Timbuck and Allen's methods/results are known to me).

THis film is one of my favourites
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLPCfGPjCbc

Thanks for that Ken-I hadn't watched that video though I've watched others by Michael Thames (which are equally good). This is definitely one way a pro would learn to do it. I'm hoping a few makers will have something that's a little easier for me to master!!

I tend to use the Spanish method of building the rosette directly into the soundboard. Sometimes with waxed lines that are later removed to be replaced with a central motif.
I'm not really a fan of the complex mosaic type rosettes. To my eye they can look as though they lack synergy with the rest of the instrument, placed because they are a fancy/clever pattern. Probably even more so on a small instrument like a Uke.
Here are a couple that I like, from the stable of Vicente Arias. Simple but very effective IMO:

http://www.fineandrareguitars.com/xhtml/guitar-arias-1889-full-boca.html


http://harrisguitarfoundation.org/vincente-arias-1910/

Timbuck said:

THis film is one of my favourites
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLPCfGPjCbc

Click to expand...

Yikes! 1:20 in that video, someone needs to tell him about push sticks...

As for rosette designs, keep in mind that it doesn't have to be perfectly round On my first couple guitars, I used a burl ring bordered by BWB purfling, and imagery inlaid into the burl ring. But lately I've just been inlaying directly into the soundboard.


When inlaying into softwoods, first shellac the surface to harden it, then scribe around the inlay piece, and then use an x-acto knife to cut through each of the dark grain lines one by one (pressing down on them, not dragging the knife) before routing. Otherwise, the varying hardness makes the router too jumpy and usually results in mistakes.

I use a fly cutter to get a clean rebate... I also use very simple and understated lines which match the binding and purflin' in design and choice of materials. I admire anyone who does that fancy stuff. However for me, I am looking for understatement and classic looks that allow the figure in the wood of the instrument, whether it be the silk of a perfect quartersawn spruce front or flame of a piece of curly koa, to show. You've seen my stuff - you know I am not a trail blazer here. My recently completed Hawaiian style with no rosette has a killer tone and monster volume - I think this is more important for me than decoration... Different strokes for different folks...

Oh and on 'some day' my shelf are the machined parts to a complicated brick style rosette in just Holly and Ebony that one day I might just make up

a trick for clean inner and outer bwb's is to inlay the rosette, THEN cut the channel (say, .060") for the inner and outer bwb's. Ive seen some very high end guitar makers do this, although i've not actually done it as I get a clean result anyway.

I'm a hobby maker. I lack patience and prefer the big stuff to the fine detail, however I'm trying to up my game so I need to become more skilled on this front. The rosette looks like the prime candidate for this.

Dennisk-I've not considered direct inlay into the soundboard as I've not done any inlay work and right now would probably just ruin the soundboard attempting what you do. Maybe I should spend some time practicing.

Michael/ Pete-I agree that the rosette should be not too exotic-I'm not into bling-I want something thats classy looking but doesnt require too much skill. I am thinking of introducing only 1 colour into the design (say green) and then use this in the purfling as say white/green/white instead of w/b/w. I am aware of the use of waxed strips which can be removed and replaced by decorative elements-I intend trying this.

Beau-that's a good tip: I've done that on a couple of ukes and it did improve the look.

The last rosette of the 3 that you posted is pretty classy looking. It's not original though and you would have to go some to get any degree of originality in a world where countless thousands of designs have already been done. That hardly matters though. What is more important is that the basic design is 'good' and the execution of that design is exemplary. You can do an awful lot with that basic motif, just by using colour theory. . . or stay with the mute and the understated. Many ways to go.