More rosette screw-ups, or rather, learning opportunities

Top #1 before I sanded through the abalone

Well if it seems these days I'm obsessed with ukulele building I am. I've semi-abandoned the original top I was working on for the concert. Last week I built another rosette and glued the plates together for the new top. We talked about what I could do with the top #1. Options range from continuing to putter away at it at a pace that doesn't affect the rest of the build, to making a box from it, to saving the rosette and using the rest of the top for bridge plates. Top #1 still sounds really good so I'm loathe to give up on it just yet. I may have to eventually but for now I'm continuing to work on it - in my spare time.

One possibility is to fill the gaps with black epoxy. I did that. I'm not the neatest person when using epoxy. No, let's rephrase that: every time I mix up epoxy I make one hell of a mess, sometimes of myself, sometimes of what I'm gluing and sometimes of both. When I used the black epoxy I discovered that some of the walls of the channel for the rosette weren't as clean as they could have been and the black seeped into the end grain leaving splotches. Okay, I can fix that. Cut another circle to go inside the original one and inlay that. Make a pattern on the outside and inlay pieces to cover up the splotches there. It took a while and I got both of those things done. I thought it looked pretty good.

Ready to replace a piece of abalone @ 2:00
Pieces @ 7:00, 9:00 and 11:00 need replacing

The next step is to sand it flat. Oops. It's now flat but I've sanded right through some of the abalone and the veneer substrate is showing. Okay, I can fix that. Use a very small chisel to dig out the abalone where it's too thin. Cut new pieces and replace them. Got one section done and glued in and guess what? It's too low so I won't be able to sand down to it. I could take those pieces out and try again, first putting down some epoxy to raise the bottom of the channel. I think that would work. Since I have four other sections to replace, I'll hold off on that decision. While I'm at it I might as well replace the wooden ring I put on the inside because it is too thin and I've sanded down to the black splotches I was trying to cover up. I'll use thicker wood and I think it would look better if I used the same wood for the inside ring as I did for the outside detail.

There's actually quite a bit of good news in all of this. I haven't gone all the way through the top. Knock wood. Also I'm getting much more accurate with the fine chisels, knives and the jeweller's saw. The other woodworking I've been doing is great training for sneaking up on a fit although I have to adapt to different tools to do it. I know, for many of you, this will only confirm that I need my head read but I'm enjoying the challenge of trying to salvage this top. If I can salvage it I guess I'll have to build a ukulele around it and if I can't it will become a box, sound hole doughnuts or bridge plates. Or, maybe I'll just hang it up with the other failed top I have to remind me of how far I've come and how far I have yet to go.

Rosette for top #2

Tools of the trade, pencil for scale

The other rosette for top #2 looks really messy but it's flat on the back and I'm not going to clean up any of the goop on the front until I get it inlaid into the top. I hope when I come to sand that one flush with the top I'll have enough material so I don't go right through the abalone. If I do I get to practice some more.

Stay tuned.