Day 4.5

The rosette, set in the soundboard- all of the original glue
that was leftover from the clamping process is still evident.

I was scheduled to work until 5pm, but had a feeling I'd get off early- and I did.  I headed to Ned's around 3, and spent an hour and a half working on my rosette.  I got to do the unveiling of the glue job- I peeled back the wax paper slowly; carefully.  While I was doing this, Ned reminded me that I was going to be scraping all of the glue and debris off, which, basically, was code for "give 'er!"  So I did- I ripped it all off, and took a look.  I felt the height differential of the rosette against the surface of the soundboard, and was surprised at how well it had set in.  We looked at the edges of the rosette, and saw that it had expanded in the channel quite well- there were no gaps, whatsoever.  The fit was immaculate!
Ned proceeded to explain to me what exactly I needed to do, and how to do it.  That I could not scrape any wood from the surface of the soundboard was emphasized upon, due to the fact that it was already at its final thickness.  He started the scraping, to demonstrate, and I watched closely.  I took the scraper from him, and began to imitate what he had shown me.  I needed to scrape what was probably 1-2mm off of the surface of the rosette, to make it flush with the top of the soundboard.  As usual, I had to bend the scraper slightly, and hold it at the proper angle.  This time, I had to be even more vigilant in seeing where the contact was being made.  I needed to keep the contact point on the rosette completely, which was less than an inch wide.  It was a very particular process.  This went on for some time.  I noticed the shavings and wood dust that came off of the rosette, and how they were multi-coloured, and not the usual colour of natural wood, which I had become so used to seeing.  The texture was also different, since the rosette is made up of tiny granules of wood, and glue.

I was nervous, at times- I didn't want the scraper to touch the cedar.  As I made my way to the edges, Ned pointed out that I needed to be careful, due to the fact that the scraper could potentially pull out little bits of the rosette, on the edge that was to be covered by the fingerboard.  He got a little sliver of wood, and went to measure the width of the neck of one his guitars, marking the sides and center.  We placed the wood on my guitar-to-be, and made pencil marks above the rosette, indicating where the fingerboard would intersect and cover it- this was my margin to stay within.  I had to make sure that if/when the granules of wood were torn out, that they didn't pass the outside of these lines.

After an hour and some change of scraping, I got Ned to take a look.  He showed me a technique to reveal any residual glue, so it could be seen and scraped off.  He sprayed a cottonball with the slightest amount of water, and dabbed potential spots where glue remained.  This helped soften the glue, and also transformed it from transparent to translucent.  I continued scraping, and kept working on my technique, until I was 95% of the way there.  I got Ned to take another look, and told him I was nervous about a couple spots- he aided me in the scraping, for a moment, doing the fine points which I didn't want to risk erring on.  After that, I resumed ownership of the scraper, and did the finishing touches.  I stepped back and took a look, and ran my fingers over it, feeling the smooth transition of cedar to rosette, and felt the slight bumps of the rosette's grain.  It was done.  The scraping made the colours of the rosette even more vibrant- it was quite a sight.  Precise; truly beautiful.

A close-up view of the detail of the rosette-
you can also see just how well it is seated in the soundboard.

And that concluded the evening.  I finished the tea Ned had served me, and headed to my next destination- dinner!  A friend invited me to her place for some food- I went and hung out for a few hours, meeting a few new people, in the process. Now, I'm home, laying in bed, all cozy-like, enjoying a small glass of 12 year-old single-malt Scotch, and some music, by candlelight.  Sleep is in my not-so-distant future...