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I have seen alot of roseete and soundhole cutters out there. What are the people here using? I would need something to attach to my router or laminate trimmer.

I've used a fly cutter with bits I ground myself. Shown are two bits I ground for the dimensions of a specific rosette.

Hey Pete! How's that guitar coming along? When are we gonna do lunch dude?!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I'm using the StewMac one, after years of aproaching the fly cutter on the drill press with a dry mouth. Part of the problem is my old drill press, on which the table is not perpendicular to the quill any more.

Every time I've tried one of the Dremel ones the darn bearings go out or something, and I trash another top.

Two things that help when using a hand cutter:
When you've made the outside cuts reset the tool so that it's cutting a little way into the waste and make another scribe line. Keep doing this until you've made cuts every mm or two all the way across the band you're going to remove. It will come out very easily, and depth control becomes no problem.

Try to find a router plane. I've got a big Stanley #71, but the smaler version would work better for most rosettes. The trouble is, they no longer make them, so far as I know.

I don't get much use out of my fly cutter any more.   

I have not seen a router unit that would work for rosettes. What Pete shows is the ideal set up but if you are like me and don't have a drill press with the required reach, I would recommend StewMac's P/N 5260 Dremel router base and P/N 0699 Sound-hole/Rosette Cutter Jig, (it requires the router base as an attachment). Be sure that your bearings in your Dremel are in good shape. The new pro series of Dremel's are suppose to have an improved bearing system. Remember any rotary tool is only as accurate as the bearing run-out and wobble allows it to be

MichaelP38399.6795949074

Don, we should get together next week, maybe Coddington or something. Email me.

P

I also use the Stewmac out fit that Michael mentions.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

I use a modified Stew Mac circle cutter. As designed by Stew-Mac the
cutter works great but a Dremel is just way too underpowered for me. So,
I took their fixture and cut off the dremel base, welded a new aluminum
base in its' place and sized it to use with my laminate trimmer. Now I
have a Stew-Mac base which I use with (presently) my Porter Cable 310.
Plenty of power and precision. You can see it at http://
www.wellsguitars.com/In_The_Shop/Mediterranean_Quilt/
Mediterrainean_Quilt.html.

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Sylvan
http://www.wellsguitars.com

Lance, Is that Koa?

good eye Michael!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

I like it!!

great idea Sylvan

I'm currently using the stew-mac base with one of those new higher powered dremels, and a carbide downward cut spiral bit. It works okay, but I don't think the base is ideal compared to the Bishop Cochran one... thats what I really want.

Rosettes and such are delicate work, and as far as what I do the dremel is plenty of power, as long as its accurate and makes a clean cut...

I like to scribe my lines before routing them anyhow.

Regards,
Joshua Frenchjfrench38399.6979398148

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Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

If you use a Stewmac Rosette cutting Jig, I would not drill a 3/16 dia hole for the pin as stated in the instructions. I would drill a 4mm or a 11/64 dia. hole for a press fit. This give a much more acurate cut in my opinion. The first time I used the Jig I drilled a 3/16 dia hole and ther was just the ever so slightest play in the top.

I'm using the Stewmac jig also. It works very well as long as you use a high quality downcut bit. I put my rosettes in before I final thickness my tops and also put a coat of shellac on to help minimize any tearout. Inlay them slightly below the surface, then sand to final thickness.

Michael, I drilled a hole in my workboard and epoxied in a 3/16 ID piece of brass tubing to overcome the problem of sideplay with the pin. You might give that a try.

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Jimmy Caldwell
http://www.caldwellguitars.com

Do you drill the hole in the top to fit the bushing you have made from brass tubbing or is the bushing flush with you work board?

As long as the hole in your workboard holds the pin tightly on its own, you can clamp the soundboard down to it and it works fine. Another idea is to drill a smaller hole and ream it to fit the pin snug. Keeping things from moving is very important.

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

The tubing is flush with the workboard and only deep enough to leave sufficient pin height (I've never measured it, so I don't have the exact dimension.) I drill a 3/16" hole in the top, insert the pin throught the top and into the tubing and clamp the top to the workboard. I leave the top clamped until I'm finished with the entire operation.

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Jimmy Caldwell
http://www.caldwellguitars.com

coming from the engineering side of manufacturing as my vocation I like press fit and clamping. Multiple redundancy trips my trigger.

Here's what I'm using:



It's essentially the Stew-Mac dremel piece on a Micro-Fence base, it allows me to make channels with absolute control. The Stew-Mac circle cutter base is a bump adjust system, this is precise down to thousands of an inch. Very very useful, like Alan fly cutters scare me a bit and they are not very precise and your locked into the size of your cutter, I really feel this is the best solution that I've seen so far.

I have some info on my site here about it:

Rosette Article

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Paul that tool makes me drool.

I too use the Stewmac, and some home made setups using a dremel grout removal base cut perpendicular then epoxied into a 1/4 inch tempered hardboard base. After getting the Dremel attached then I determine my distance and drill pivot holes, three for a D28 rosette, I then go back with a dremel and a quarter inch cutter in the middle hole, that gives me all three rings. But Paul's has exactly what I found to be a drawback on the Stewmac tool, fine radii adjustment, the vertical adjustment is great.Dickey38399.9879050926

Paul---that's beautiful. And I bet it works, as an added bonus.

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http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Oh man does it ever work Steve, I did a bonehead move on a rosette and sanded through some of the inlay when I was sanding the top...

So I whipped this puppy out and cut out the inlay and trim and dropped new stuff in, I was actually shaving the trim out. I could have never done that with the Stew-Mac setup, I can also test fit and never go to far anymore, it's the one of the best tools in my shop

Cheers

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

I'm using a decidedly low-tech method that works wonders as long as you make sure you've got it set up properly on scrap first. Take router. Drill holes in base (or make base and then drill holes).

Drill hole through centre of soundhole into MDF workboard/scrap. Stick drill bit in (drill bit now magically becomes...an index pin!). Select appropriate hole on router base. Swing router around in very careful circle, using nice sharp spiral downcut bit. Works like a charm, even if you're using a big, massively overpowere router for the task. Cuts through spruce like it's not even there. When I get myself a laminate trimmer, one of the first things I'm making for it is a circle cutter base.

Has to be noted that I'm pretty much 'set' on doing wood rosettes, none of this multi-ring stuff, which makes router bit selection a good bit easier.

I also go with the Stew Mac base but I have binned all my Dremel tools and now use a Black & Decker RTX the bearing quality is much, much better and I have had no trouble with runout. I also use a spiral downcut bit and take it very slowly.

If I was going from scratch I think I'd get one of Paul's Micro-fence tools, looks very solidly built, a heavy tool is usually a good tool.

Colin

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