:) Thanks Zandit75!

Thanks David. Great woods truly are inspirational!

I have the back strip laid in along with the side purflings:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4912/...1efc4f96_c.jpg

Also the top is has been joined and we are working out the rosette:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7827/...4d040336_c.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4853/...9116228f_c.jpg

I reall like that cross grain back strip. Very pretty

Stunning wood, great combination of tone and grain.

Thanks John, I've been doing cross grain on the back of the neck for years now. I don't know why I didn't think to do carry it onto the back strip.

Thanks! we're fortunate to work with these woods!

Thanks for commenting

Mark

Back Graft
 

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4906/...faa28199_c.jpg

Setting the vertebrae.

Rosette
 

Here are a couple pictures of cutting the rosette channel and the rosette installed. It is abalone and Cocobolo with a bunch of purfling lines. The Cocobolo came from the same piece of wood that I am using for the back strip and center laminate of the neck:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4867/...dfe6ab39_b.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7840/...4311af07_b.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4864/...ae7981f1_c.jpg

Thanks for viewing!
Mark

Love the pictures.

Beautiful woods--and what a gorgeous rosette and backstrip!

Nice rosette
 

I really like the color of the abalone....really pops, even without finish.
Sweet!

Thanks Ovation1. Is it wrong that I spent so much time setting up for a picture of a circle cutter? :)

Thanks Nemoman, I have always been partial to trimming Mahogany (and Koa) with Cocobolo. I love the look and feel they really compliment each other. This
Fiddleback Tree is very special and I felt it warranted a little something extra out of the Cocobolo. I dug deep into my supply and remembered this one little piece of cloud figure that was stuck aside for just such an occasion.

Thanks canuck7, That’s Blue Pau abalone. I believe it has the richest color of any abalone. I’d be delightfully surprised to find better!

Here are a couple more pics. This first one is the back graft being cleaned up. This strip of cross grained wood is ther to support the glue joint between the two back halves. After it is glued in it is sanded down to a bring the sides down to a thin edge. If they where left full height they would become stress risers going right along the grain of the back halves increasing the possibility of causing cracks:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7807/...7ffa8ee9_c.jpg

Here I am cutting out the sound hole:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7913/...4cc3967f_c.jpg

I use binding tape on the bottom of the cutter to keep it from marking the top:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7917/...339f4164_c.jpg

A nice sharp blade on the cutter gives a clean cut:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4863/...d9b7e87e_b.jpg

One of the practices I picked up while taking classes with Ervin Somogyi years ago was to save the hole cutouts with the pertinent details of the build for future reference. Of course Ervin has a lot more holes than I do :)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4856/...24b5322c_b.jpg

Looks like you've got a pretty good collection going yourself, Mark!

I'm working on it! ;)

Me too...
 

As usual, I agree with John! I think it looks fantastic either view.

Beautiful BEAUTIFUL woods! And the rosette is SWEET. LOVE the Coco.

And it will sound awesome, no doubt!!!

Paul