Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi everyone,

Well I finally finished my first two rosettes. I am finally making some progress here and I am excited to begin the bracing stage soon.
Today I sanded with 150 grit paper to get everything smooth after planing the rosettes.

Question 1
I noticed there were a couple of gaps around teh rings of the rosette and some of the parts have a less than perfect fit. How do I go about filling those areas ? I used walnut and cherry, with black and maple lines - I used regular Titebond - not CA and the channels are not sealed.

Question 2
I want to seal the sound board a little to keep it from damage - I plan to use Zinnser Seal Coat - dewaxed - can I seal the whole sound board ? Should I sand everything down with 220 first and get that part pretty much finshed smooth ? or will I have a chance to sand again after I seal it - before the final French polishing ?

Thanks !

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

I can not answer any of your questions but I did want to say I like the patterns you came up with for the rosettes.
Chuck

John,
From what I see here, the only thing wrong is... It`s not finished!
Coe Franklin

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Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

John,
Where are the gaps? I can't see them in the pictures so it is hard to respond.
First off - do not use tightbond on your rosette. It can cause trouble with the finish on the top. Use LMI white or hide glue. Fish glue is good if you don't want to use HHG.
If the gaps are in the rosette woods, fill them with slivers of that wood and CA or wood dust and CA. This should work well
If the gaps are in the top plate, filling will not look good. Think about starting over or routing another channel to add more purfling.

They sure look good to me!

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

The circles show where there are a few flaws -

Since I used Titebond - you mention problems with the finish on the top later ? I guess really sanding and cleaning the top is important.
Can I put shellac on the top now to see where the issues may be and also seal and protect the top ?

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

John,
Filling gaps in rosettes has never worked very well for me. I will be watching this thread closely. :-)

As for protecting surfaces with shellac while working, I have used Zinsser SealCoat precisely as you described and had no problems.

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George :-)

John-
Nice (and original) job on the rosettes!
I don't know how 'dark' the Zinsser's shellac is; I've never had any problems putting blonde shellac on tops at any stage of building- either just around the rosette, or to prep for cutting binding ledges, or on the whole top. If the shellac is fresh, it sands well and never seems to 'show' after the guitar is finished.

A far as your 'gaps' -I wouldn't worry much about such small things. One caution: Do not use CA near an unsealed (un-'shellac-sealed') spruce top. I had a nasty green stain develop on an Englemann spruce top because I didn't seal the rosette area with shellac before gluing in the inlays. If you are thinking about using CA at this point (rather than later, when spot filling and finishing), be sure to lay a good coat of shellac into the rosette first.

Cheers
John

it might be a your preference Steve I have so far after 7 builds never had a problem though. I think titebond is an awesome wood glue for mostly everything. I do put shellac around the rosette area before any titebond goes in. ( not in the channel though) I have more and more gone to using CA alot lately.
"I" would not seal the tops at all, not before finish. try to keep them pretty thick before bindings and all. and then you final sand and your there. finish sand and start the prep for french polishing.
I would do as already been said and make another purf channel. ad a black purf on each side "bwb/bwb"


Lars.

Steve;
You can use thinned hide glue or fish glue to help seal & fill those gaps.
Just work the glue into the area you want to expand and add wood dust to match only if you need to.
Like a big gap.
I see 2 gaps around the corners of the walnut-carefully clean out the glue in those gaps and fill with wood dust & glue.
Not CA?
It will darken the area.

the spot on the right looks like your white wood line is missing some wood.
This you should clean the glue out with a very small sharp exato blade.
then use either wood dust & glue or baby powder & glue to fill.
Which ever matches the color best.
OR re-rout the purf. lines and make the rose slightly smaller with new lines!
That' what I'd do .

Mike

Mike

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Mike Collins