One of the most frequently asked questions I get when people come by the workshop is "how do you make your rosettes?" I thought I'd put together this quick step-by-step guide of some of the processes involved in making rosettes from scratch.
First, make the design on graph paper. This is the most challenging step.
Calculate and then cut the amount of veneer strips that are needed.
Here are veneer strips for the central mosaic.
Clip them together so that each assembly corresponds with one column in the mosaic tile.
Glue the strips together into a stack.
Once dry, square the sides of the stack with a low angle block plane.
Saw off planks from each stack.
The planks are then laminated together to create a log.
Once the log has been glued together, it is tapered. Then individual tiles can be sawn off.
Cut a channel in your soundboard and then start to lay the tiles in place .
Here's the initial pattern in place after being smoothed a bit with the plane.
Next, the central mosaic is flanked by more decorative inlay.
Purfling laminations can be bent on a bending iron. Just a little heat and moisture does the trick.
A grammel is used to scribe the dimensions of the channel.
The channel is roughly excavated with a chisel.
Then a Dremel tool can be used to perfect the channel.
Here, the purflings are gathered together with a teflon strip.
Later I'll remove the strip and put in small tiles for a flanking mosaic.
From chaos comes beauty.
Out comes the teflon, in go the small tiles.
This second design is flanked by herringbone.
Herringbone is simple to bend and install.
Here's the herringbone design close up.
Here's the one with the flanking mosaic close up.
These two rosettes will be used in my new Angel Romero Special Edition that he and I have been collaborating on. The sound,experience and beauty of these instruments will be a direct reflection of Angel's discerning taste. To see more of my rosettes visit the rosette image gallery.
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