Joining the Top:

Gluing the top. The bass side of the top is Western red cedar, the treble side Engelmann spruce. I was intrigued by the idea of using a two-wood top, after seeing photos of Harry Fleishman's and Danny Ferrington's guitars with split-wood tops. I am curious to see if the two different woods bring out different qualities in the bass and treble strings.

The soundboard after I have joined the two halves.

Making the Rosette:
 
I came up with a design for the rosette and first drew it using ClarisWorks.

 

Here is the top, after I have cut out rings from each half, to inlay into the contrasting side. I thought that, since I had the split-wood top, it might be interesting to create this visual effect of opposites.

After having routed out the channel for the rings, I first glued the 1/16" blue ring, and then the 1/4" green ring (made by laminating three sheets of the green veneer and then cutting out a ring with my Dremel circle cutter).

Next, I glued in the outer two blue rings, with a teflon strip sandwiched in between. After that had dried, I pulled out the teflon strip, which left a channel into which I glued curved green abalone strips. This photo was taken right after gluing, before I had leveled it all down.

 

Here is the final rosette, after leveling down and cutting out the soundhole.

Go to :

  1. Planning & Mold
  2. Joining the Top & Making the Rosette
  3. Bracing the Top
  4. The Back
  5. The Sides
  6. The Soundbox
  7. The Neck
  8. Binding
  9. Shaping the Neck
  10. The Bridge
  11. The Finishing
  12. It's Finished!!!

(last updated 9/7/98)
Return to Projects Home Page