The Improved Rosette Cutter

[Clancy]

Those who know me personally know that I like to build with hand powered tools as much as possible.
I don't have a thickness sander, I plane to thickness all my tops, backs, sides, overlays, rosettes, etc.
I even plane my truss rod channels!
But two jobs always require me to use power tools to get a quality result - rosette channels & binding channels.
I have very nearly bought the LMI rosette cutter (SPCC) quite a few times.
So Michael's innitiative in tackling a quality tool for rosettes was great news to me.
When my dearest suggested that she'd bought herself enough band tickets to class as a xmas present so I should 'Santa' myself something special, I immediately thought of this thread.
The tool arrived promptly and nicely packaged.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to use the rosette tool yet , but I do have a question regarding it's use.

When using the knife blade, do you use the same line on the template to set the rosette's edge and the rosette channel's edge, just spinning the blade around so the waste is on opposite sides.
I know this may seem obvious, but I'm not sure if doing this would create a rossette smaller that the channel.

I guess the other thing that occurred to me is that the knife blade is unlikely to ever be exactly placed in the centre of the square HSS rod.
So when spinning the blade 180 there would always be a need for tiny adjustments in position.
When just playing around with my tool (as I'm prone to do ) I've found the sliding dovetail to be quite an ON or OFF device, making minor adjustments tricky.
I should add though, that the sliding dovetail is beautifully made with absolutely no slop in it whatsoever!

Anyway, as I said, these are just musings of mine and it's probably just a case of learning to use it in practice - like all those hand planes & chisels & things that I never used to know one end from the other.

Thanks for the effort on this specialised tool Michael.
I hope my funds go some ways to paying off that insane piece of russian hardware you bought to do the job!

[Localele]

Hi Craig. In answer to a few of your questions here is what I do to set the distances.
I like to use a story stick or even better a piece of thin perpex to set out the design for the rosette and neatly use the tool to lightly scribe the layout lines . This becomes your master reference for resetting the cutter. Using a scribed line it is possible to put the blade back in exactly the same position much easier than trying to go back to a measurement.
The knife blade is ground very close to centre but whether I did it or not I would still turn the blade around and then check/reset it's position on your layout lines to make sure.Loosen the dovetail slide and position the knife in the scribed layout line and then do up the dovetail adjuster from above the tool.It comes under the measure twice cut once rule.
I certainly like to have the bevel of the knife on the waste side of any inlay or marquetry I do.
The height setting blocks also take a little practice and making a different block to suit the blade end and the thickness of your inlays may be necessary for some people. My block has 4 positions of .5 , 1 , 1.5 , and 2mm.
When I get back from holidays I will try to tackle a simple video as seeing it is a lot easier than writing these sort of instructions.Certainly practice will help though.
The 3 rings below obscured under the sticky tape are just cut and pushed into a practice piece with no glue.

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[Allen]

Here are a couple of photos of how I use a perspex template. I have them made up for each size of instrument I build, and if I want to do something different, then it's not hard to make another. Keeping in mind what side the blade will face is probably the trickiest part for me at least. Easy to get confused and have the bevel to the wrong side unless you plan out your steps. But putting the blade back in the scribe line doesn't get much simpler.

The beauty of making the template full size is that I can place it over the inlay material that I want to use to determine the color pattern and figure that I want to incorporate. Then it's dead easy to mark out the centre and away I go. As well I highly recommend putting clear sticky tape over the rosette material before trying to cut it. Very easy to break on most woods.

These were some photo's I took of the building process for Honey's Tenor uke.

[Clancy]

Thanks Michael & Allen.
So, again, the same line is used for both the edge of the rosette inlay and the edge of the rosette channel.

Btw Allen, I have trouble veiwing your new website layout.
The title banner/menu on the top of each page overlays the beginning of each page.
Here's a snapshot...

Allen's Page (Small).jpg (65.68 KiB) Viewed 27489 times

[Allen]

Yes, the same line.

What browser and platform are you using Craig?

[Clancy]

The standard stuff - Internet Explorer 8 on Windows 7.

[Tod Gilding]

ie 9 is available Craig

[Clancy]

There's always something "more" available.
I try not to keep up......

[Allen]

I think that there is something wrong on your end Craig, as I've tested it with that set up and it works fine. IE 9 is far better with lots of the security holes plugged up for the time being. But that's the world of Windows. Much better option for browsers on the Win platform is Firefox.

[Clancy]

I used to use firefox but I kept coming up against sites that I could only log into with IE.
But this is all off topic so I'll end it here and we can get back to the things that are important - like the workshop!
I've got a perspex rosette template to make.

[simonm]

Yes, the same line.

What browser and platform are you using Craig?

Another Luddite here. I only see a completely black page. But the reason is because I am so sick of google spying on me for fun and profit (oops that should read "enhancing my internet experience") that I am doing everything I can to block googleapis and google-analytics with varying degrees of success.

[Robbie O'Brien]

I love mine too! Nice tool and has a prominent place on my workbench!

[colburge]

Hey

I have wanted one of these for a while now after seeing it her and at the woodworking show, so I have just treated myself to one. I think it will be cheaper and easier in the long run, since I don't have a Dremel or laminate router, and those bloody router bits are expensive. For the guys that purchased one - do you still use it or have you gone to another method?

Cheers

Col

[lauburu]

Bought one and love it. Devised a perspex template system before learning that other people do the same which makes life easier. Still rout out the channel using a machine but scribe the inside and outside diameters with Micheal's tool first. You need to put in a bit of practice at the beginning but once you've got the hang of using it you can do almost anything. Great tool.
Have a growing stash of rosettes. Now all I need is the time to build some ukes.
Miguel

[colburge]

Bought one and love it. Devised a perspex template system before learning that other people do the same which makes life easier. Still rout out the channel using a machine but scribe the inside and outside diameters with Micheal's tool first. You need to put in a bit of practice at the beginning but once you've got the hang of using it you can do almost anything. Great tool.
Have a growing stash of rosettes. Now all I need is the time to build some ukes.
Miguel

I will have to wait until Michael makes some more, you guys have bought them all. I will need to find something else to do in the mean time.

Cheers

Col

[Kev3]

Hi Col,
used mine for the first time last weekend - love it. Used it to cut rosette and channel - nearly left it at that coz it fitted so well, but went ahead and next cut channels for purfling and lastly sound hole. All cuts super clean, did not need any tweaking or tidying up at all. Light scoring on a perspex storyboard is a simple and elegant way of ensuring perfect re-positioning. Really happy with the way it performed and it gives me confidence to try and be a bit more adventurous in design next time.

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[colburge]

Hi Col,
used mine for the first time last weekend - love it. Used it to cut rosette and channel - nearly left it at that coz it fitted so well, but went ahead and next cut channels for purfling and lastly sound hole. All cuts super clean, did not need any tweaking or tidying up at all. Light scoring on a perspex storyboard is a simple and elegant way of ensuring perfect re-positioning. Really happy with the way it performed and it gives me confidence to try and be a bit more adventurous in design next time.

ring.jpg

purfling.jpg

final.jpg

Thanks for the reply, that is a beautiful installation, perfect fit! I don't mind paying for something that performs that well, I just have to wait until Michael makes a new batch.

Cheers

Col

[ozziebluesman]

Now Kevin that is a very nice job mate!

No wonder your happy with the tool.

Cheers

Alan

[Kev3]

Thanks Alan,
I am happy with that
But all I really did was guide the thing round. Micheal's tool was rock solid, the blades nice and sharp and the weight enough that it did all the actual work
It made the exercise a real pleasant way to spend some nice and quiet time - took something that I found a little daunting and fraught and made it an almost meditative experience

- besides, whilst I have nothing against power tools, I hate the scream of a dremel and like Col do not have the arsenal of attachments needed to duplicate the task.

Now, what else can I find around the place that'd look good with an inlayed ring of timber

[colburge]

Thanks Alan,
I am happy with that
But all I really did was guide the thing round. Micheal's tool was rock solid, the blades nice and sharp and the weight enough that it did all the actual work
It made the exercise a real pleasant way to spend some nice and quiet time - took something that I found a little daunting and fraught and made it an almost meditative experience

- besides, whilst I have nothing against power tools, I hate the scream of a dremel and like Col do not have the arsenal of attachments needed to duplicate the task.

Now, what else can I find around the place that'd look good with an inlayed ring of timber

Coffee table would be good - permanent coasters

[Allen]

Very nicely done Kevin. Imagine what you'll be able to do with a bit of practice.

[simso]

Thread is 3 to 4 yrs old.

First are they still available as I would like to purchase one, second what's the consensus been on the product.

Steve

[Kev3]

Thread is 3 to 4 yrs old.

First are they still available as I would like to purchase one, second what's the consensus been on the product.

Steve

As for feedback on the product Steve..... still use mine as first preference, have the SteMac gizmo for my dremel but never use it. Really like it. Possibly a bit slower than dremel/ router to cut, but I have yet had a need to clean up any edges etc.
Only comment is to remember to only cut clockwise (or the locating pin may unscrew itself from lock position).
Below - latest rosette, as cut - no purfling to hide dodgy rout.

[simso]

That is a very nice fit, fit and finish mean everything.

That is genuinely a faultless example, IMO.

Steve

[blackalex1952]

Would it be possible to post a close up photo of the blade geometry? It looks nicley refined in that pic from the old posts. Cheers! Ross