MIMF

I am inlaying a mop rosette with bwb purfling round it.
Do I inlay the mop tiles, then rout out around the mop rosette for the purfling? or some other technique.
Dumb but I don't know what a dremel on a stew mac router base with a spiral bit does with mop.
I have done about a dozen rosettes but none with mop.
Thanks in advance.

I have done a few like this. Measure the total width of the pearl and purfling material. Route a channel a few thou. larger than that total dimension. Lay in all the perfling pieces and temporarily hold in place with tape. Start adding the pearl. When complete, flood with super glue.

The jig to cut the groove.

+1 for Mike's method, but I draw the circles with a compass and cut the channel with a hobby knife and chisels. I suspect his jig works much better
Another approach is to route a channel in a piece of scrap and construct the rosette in that, and then transfer the completed rosette to the top. A piece of backing paper in the bottom of the channel helps a lot. This method doesn't work that well with CA, it's difficult to avoid gluing the rosette to the scrap.

A slightly different approach--Build the rosette away from the guitar, glue a "backing strip" on the face rather than the back. Glue it into the guitar top, and sand the scrap away.

Scrap corian is a good way to build the rosettes. If you are using wood, hide glue works really well and releases nicely from the corian.

I've used a variation on Mike S.'s approach with success. I break the process into two steps:
1. Route the entire width, and install the perfling lines, but instead of the MOP, install a teflon strip the same dimension as your MOP. Then flood the channel with CA.
2. Once dry, pull the teflon strip out, and lay your MOP pieces into the void. Flood again.
Do make sure to spray your top with shellac before you flood anything with CA. Otherwise, the CA may darken portions of the top around the rosette.

I build the rosette completely away from the top. I figure what the inner diameter of the rosette will be and make a round form that size that I start layering the purfling around, gluing each layer. Then the pearl is glued to the inner rings and then the outer rings are added. Then route out a channel the exact size of the rosette I just made, put epoxy in the channel and drop the rosette in.
Steve

Thanks, guys,
All your techniques are very interesting.
Not sure if I will be successful with any of them tho.
Not sure where I would get a teflon strip or even what exactly you are talking about, Gerry.
I build my own segmented wood burl rosettes. With those I build it on a piece of heavy paper, then rout out a ring, then clue and rout for purfling. They have turned out well.
I also have HHG and fish glue and I know some people used that to glue in rosettes. Would like to stay away from Ca on a top if possible due to staining.
Also, some concern about sanding away too much mop if I build it upside down.

Mike, here is the teflon strip - it makes this work very easy. Laminate it between your bwb - use whatever glue you like (Titebond will work, as will CA), pull the teflon and insert the pearl. Works for rosettes, style 40+ edge trim - highly recommended

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bindings,_t ... Strip.html

I always build the rosette off of the top on scrap but use plastic. Avoids chances to mess up a good top.

If you build it in scrap polyethylene plastic (white cutting boards), you can play all you want with designs etc. and then lock everything together with thin CA and it pops right out.

The picture is just of a simple band, but I do mostly complex multi piece rosettes this same way.
1. plan it out.
2. Cut a trough for the middle portion of your rosette in both the top and the plastic so they are identical.
3 once your happy with the design and fit of the middle, flood with CA. (small amounts at a time to prevent boiling from heat generation when it cures and the subsequent white flaw that this can create. )
4. Set your circle cutter to where you want the inner band and cut this into the plastic/rosette and into the top being sure to cut into the edge of your previously finished center portion of rosette.
5. Install and glue inner band strips.
6. Set cutter to outside band and cut this into the plastic/ rosette and into the top.
7 Install and glue outer banding
8. Level top of finished rosette by sanding, scraping, etc while still in the plastic scrap.
8. Pop out finished rosette and install into the top and it will fit perfectly because both inside and outside edges of the rosette and the trough in the top had been cut at the exact same setting on your cutter when you had cut them in the top and in the plastic.

By finishing the rosette in the plastic scrap and gluing with CA, the rosette isn't going to swell when you glue it into the top even if you use hide glue, fish glue, etc. for the final gluing into the top.

Aaah, I think I have it, by golly. How clever to build up the rosette in plastic. I will try it. I am going to lay up a mop rosette with bwb purfling inner and out rings contacting the mop. Then maybe some more rings.
I have moved to a totally different environment. To the Desert. And I really have not client base to see to. So, I am using whatever I have.
This one is a curly maple back and sides om form with OOO depth. Has claro back strip and will use claro binding. the top is redwood. Neck will be Honduran Mahogany etc.
Already have the back glued up. It seemed to go really well. Nearly perfect squeeze out. I was gluing in 80 degree temp with humidity of 38%. Hard time controlling humidity in the desert but I have my third humidifier on the way. I have a small space I can air condition and humidify now with my gobar deck in it.