New OM Claro Walnut with Spruce top #16

[Herman]

Simple abalone rosette, I like that.
Liking the ritirement?
Herman

[Kevin in California]

Herman I am loving it. In the shop most of the time so far.
Yeah decided to keep this one simple but planning on top abalone purfling so that's making it a bit more work.
Got the top braced today. Lots of carving to do now.

[Kevin in California]

Well I got the top braces carved, now just realized I did not take a picture of it done. Oh well. The neck block extension is hand chiseled out for the truss rod access.
Yesterday I cut the notches in the rims for the back and top, and today got them glued on. Tomorrow I'll flush trim both top and back and start level sanding around the sides. I love getting to this place in the build.

[Kevin in California]

Today I routed the top and back flush with the sides.
Now a bit of sanding to do. There is always a bit of cupping going on it seems. I like to do this by hand with a flat sanding board and a large dowel wrapped in sandpaper for the waist. Good arm exercise!

[Kevin in California]

Got the sides sanded flat and went on to routing for binding and purfling.
The top is getting EIR binding with a maple side purfling and abalone top purfling. The back is just getting the binding.
Routing is done and install of the binding happens
today.

[Kevin in California]

Bent the binding....it came out almost a perfect fit. Tape was all that's needed, no clamps (I usually need a clamp at least on the waist).
I tape in the bindings, check the fit, trim the ends, etc. and then do a final fitting/taping. Then I wick in CA where there is no tape, the remove the tape and wick in CA in those spots. Next I used a very small hand made chisel. (Made from a mini file, only a 1/16" wide) to clean up the channel of excess dried CA.
With that done, then I use Teflon strips to fit in the channel with the black fiber on the inside edge of the channel and wick CA along the edge to glue it in.
Pull the Teflon out and I'm ready to install the abalone along with the black fiber on the outside edge of the channel. I'm about half way with the shell install today.
When it's all in, I'll flood it all with CA. The shell is set .005"
below the top to accommodate the CA. This is laminate shell that's. 050" thick, and you don't want to sand the surface of the shell. So instead I'll be scraping/sanding the CA to get it all flat.
By the way, this shell is about 1/3 the cost of solid shell and when installed you can't tell the difference. This time I'm using all curved strips and they break and conform to the channel, the same as when you use straight pieces.
That's how I do it. Very low stress when doing bindings this way.

[John Parchem]

The install of the abalone looks like it is going smoothly. I just finished a ukulele. You are right about the cost. The concert Uke cost about $80 for purfling and rosette. The laminated shell looks the same.