The afternoon began with a coat of varnish for the UKES sign that hangs outside the workshop. The weather and UV got to it.
Then I got to work on making some new rosettes for the coming tenors. It is a kind of fussy project but I love the final result, spalted maple rosettes with infinite design and color that only mother nature can provide.
I cut the little pieces with an exacto saw and this jig I put together. It allows me to cut different angles in the strips of spalted maple that I slide through this device. You need to cut several different angles on the pieces.
Makes it a lot easier to fit the pieces.
Makes it a lot easier to fit the pieces.
Take a look at the infinite variety in these pieces that I cut today. When the finish gets put on this wood it really becomes rich.
Now on scraps of spruce I prepare to set the pieces into the correct sized circle. Each piece will span, or straddle the lines of this scribed on circle and be affixed to the spruce backing with super glue. When the circle is completely filled with the cut pieces, it will be trimmed with a circle cutter to the final size of the rosette.
The edges of each selected piece are lightly sanded on the adjoining sanding platform so that the edges will join closely. then the pieces are arranged on the spruce backing in the way they will be glued. Remember that the side you want to show must be placed face down on the spruce backing for that will be the side that is eventually seen on the instrument. It is wise to set an entire circle like this before you apply the super glue and commit it to the spruce. I like to set it up with what I want to show, on top, and then it turn over when gluing it down.
More tomorrow when we cut the final shape.
More tomorrow when we cut the final shape.
