this is for a guitar shaped mandola I'm mking for a guy in England.
Cut a donut of solid wood and cut two grooves to match on the top.

route the gap between the cuts on the top
yup, as thin as this!!!

Cut a contrasting donut.. these are maple and walnut

Mark them in 12 equal segments. NUMBER them!!!

Chop them up.

assemble the bits. there will be gaps because of the thickness of the saw.

purlfing on the outside

and then in all the gaps too.

once it's all glued in I'll cut another slot inside for another purfling strip. then I'll cut the soundhole