Rosette

I have a box of pieces of shell I go to when I want to make a rosette or do some inlay on a headstock. I’m new to inlay but it can be really beautiful and I’m looking forward to getting better at it. One of my instruments had an inlay on the headstock and I think this tenor probably will have one as well.

There is also a little piece of silver in there which came from my mum's jewelry-making days. I'm not sure how I'll use that. The saw in the foreground is a jeweller's saw used to cut the shell into the desired shapes. It takes quite a bit of practice to develop accuracy. I'm working on it.

Constructing the rosette on a piece of card. 

Not your Tim Horton's doughnut. This little piece of wood is very fragile. It goes around the sound hole on the inside of the top of the ukulele. The grain goes at 90 degrees to the grain of the top and it helps to strengthen the area around the sound hole where the rosette will be on the other side.

When I was shaping the doughnut I put it over a piece of PVC pipe to support it so I wouldn't break it as I rounded the top.

That's about it for now. I'll post again when I get the top cut out.