OK I'll share I hate secrets ...Yes! it's scarf joints Michael...I have a jig to cut the strips to the correct length and angle for the scarf (and i do spiral them).. but then I glue them up first in a Teflon block with a rosette channel cut into it the same size as the uke channel, this way I can adjust any minor errors at an early stage...when i'm satisfied that no joins are visible and the glue is cured, I remove it in one piece and fit it to the uke top...sounds like lot of fiddling about but it dosn't take long to do..and it's very satisfying, as I once had a uke returned co's a joint was showing on a white ring the complainant(Nitpicker) said "that once it was noticed his eye was drawn to it every time he opened the case". :uhoh:I remember the post, but I'll keep your secret Ken!
I used to do em that way..but this way gives me what I'm after..the joints still show with the tube method.Could this be done in bulk, similar to the way classical guitar rosettes are made? Make a long WBW tube and slice off rosettes?
OK I'll share I hate secrets ...Yes! it's scarf joints Michael...I have a jig to cut the strips to the correct length and angle for the scarf (and i do spiral them).. but then I glue them up first in a Teflon block with a rosette channel cut into it the same size as the uke channel, this way I can adjust any minor errors at an early stage...when i'm satisfied that no joins are visible and the glue is cured, I remove it in one piece and fit it to the uke top...sounds like lot of fiddling about but it dosn't take long to do..and it's very satisfying, as I once had a uke returned co's a joint was showing on a white ring the complainant(Nitpicker) said "that once it was noticed his eye was drawn to it every time he opened the case". :uhoh:
That's excellent work Michael i'd like to see the process.I've seen many examples on relatively expensive guitars where the joints are easily visible. It's not an easy thing to do. . . unless you know how to do it. In my experience there's an awful lot that don't.
They can be done in bulk and sliced off. The one that I showed was done that way. I think I got six out of the glue up.
Yes! I do the nibbling as well....take a fraction too much off and youve got a gap. so then you make another strip and start againIt was done a long time ago Ken, more than 10 years ago and I haven't made that style of rosette since. I know I made it on a former. I've made similar one off types, which were joined in the rosette channel of the soundboard, rather than made separate and then inlaid.
The technique that I used was to overlap the veneer and cut through that overlap with a scalpel, scarf cut. it's virtually the same idea as the wallpaper joint.
That's the only way that I could reliably get near invisible joints. I've also done them by nibbling away until it fits. That can work too but it's a bit hit and miss, might take a few attempts until it's 'good enough'.