Abalone rosette measurements

[Richardl]

Hi Trevor - several pages are dedicated to abalone rosettes so thought I'd try that on the latest build. The rosette former seems a cunning way to assemble the rosette so I was just about to make one but don't really follow the measurements in the book (6.4.1.1). On a steel string with a 102 mm sound hole (in the plan), and 4 mm between soundhole, inner purfling then 4 mm to the inner shell rosette, I make it 121 mm diameter for the rosette former. I'm not sure how the the recommended 115 mm former (or 16-18 mm bigger than the soundhole diameter, elsewhere) will work unless the soundhole is a bit smaller or I use less than 4 mm between rings. Might be petty, but just checking I'm not doing something stupid by aiming for a 121 mm former.
Cheers
Richard

[Trevor Gore]

On a steel string with a 102 mm sound hole (in the plan)...

The falcate plan has a 95mm sound hole, which is what I had in mind when suggesting "something around 115mm".

Your 121mm former should be OK for a 102mm sound hole, but best to get a compass and a piece of paper and draw it out to make sure it pleases your eye.

[Richardl]

OK thanks. Its appears a bit big to me, which is why I asked. Perhaps I'll cut down the gaps from 4 mm to 3 mm to get the rosette a bit tighter, although that'll make little difference in the scheme of things. Cheers
Richard