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How do you make a rosette from this? DO you just cut a channel very close to the ID and OD of the abalone rosette then and glue in each piece then fill with ebony dust and CA? There are so many pieces!
I was planning on making a ring from ebony, inlaying the abalone into that and then inlaying that completed ring into the top. Should I skip the ebony ring part?
Thanks!

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

These type of inlays from Asia are very thin so be careful to mount it exactly flush. Your can inlay each piece which is a lot of work. I suggest that you hot glue it to a piece of plastic then soak in hot water to remove the pieces from the card that they are currently glued to. Then you can cut a rebate in your top to fit the whole thing into. Cut it a little large to help the fit and to let you make a perfect inside and outside circle and install a thin BWB accent stripe. I have used some of this type inlay that I got on eBay.

This is how I did the rosette on this guitar

Fill the voids with black CA.

I hope this helps.

Steve

Steve
I have made a bunch of guitars with that rosette. What I do is rout a channel a bit wider than the pearl. Both inside and out.
I then CA in some bwb rings leaving the inner channel free to place the pearl rosette. I just carefully place each piece of pearl and then wick a tiny amount of CA to hold them in place. I fill the surrounding area with dyed epoxy. I have used everything from wood dust to epoxy tints to brass powder to add color the fill of the epoxy. They all work just fine.
Once dry, I run the top through my thickness sander. I DON"T inlay it in a piece of ebony first!!!
Call me if you have any questions.
Andy

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Thanks Andy. I think I have it now.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Steve;
Are you going to use the radius it came in?

If so -rout a channel that radius and the depth you need-
then fill with epoxy and turn the whole piece upside down and set into the channel.
Let dry then sand or scrape the backing off!
Then make slots for purfs!

Mike

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Mike Collins

Mike,
That sounds too easy! Thanks for the tip!

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.