Second rosette practice

[MarkAndrew1]

This one is going to be for my brothers guitar. ADI/Goncalo Alves...

I used a piece of Hog to practice on first. The wood line between
the outer strip and the herringbone is a hair larger than the inner
one. But I'll make that adjustment when I do it for real.

[ken cierp]

I normally use Duco for rosettes since it has an invisible glue line, but if the channels are a tiny bit oversize Elmer's is a good choice (almost invisible glue line) the water in the glue tends to make the wood swell a bit which will result in a very snug fit. As a matter of fact its a good idea to work fast to make sure the rosette gets seated all the way down.

[Tim Benware]

As a matter of fact its a good idea to work fast to make sure the rosette gets seated all the way down.

Amen to that.

[MarkAndrew1]

So, if you're using something like Elmer's glue for rosettes; why
would working fast be helpful? Doesn't Elmer's dry slowly?

I have no idea please explain :)

[ken cierp]

The moisture in the Elmer's glue "quickly" puffs up the wood fibers making the channels smaller. Duco is solvent based and does not affect the wood -- but it does dry pretty fast.

[MarkAndrew1]

The moisture in the Elmer's glue "quickly" puffs up the wood fibers making the channels smaller. Duco is solvent based and does not affect the wood -- but it does dry pretty fast.

Gotcha....i didn't know that about Elmer's!

Thanks, Ken

[John Link]

Michael Collins advocates a technique on his DVD I had never heard of, but it looked like it worked well.

First he installed the rosette parts dry.

Next he dabbed water on them, causing them to swell and tighten. (They were pretty tight in the first place - he is good at his craft.)

Last he flooded them with CA glue while wet, causing them to swell and fill all tiny gaps. He claimed CA (super) glue is compatible with wet objects and indeed it appeared to be. It all dried nice and tight. But he did not have to fight the "swelling on the fly" that you would experience using a water based glue if the parts were large enough that in their swelled state they no longer fit.

I would suggest using a thin coat of shellac on the top wood outside both sides of the rosette to protect it from the "wet look" that CA can introduce, but in Collins' video he did not do this and that look did disappear as he leveled the rosette.

The rosette was for an oval hole Maccaferri, so later in the video he had to remove part of the rosette to replace it with an ebony wedge at the top of the channel. The removal process made it clear the rosette strips had adhered well into the channel.