Kenneth E. Whisler, Luthier & Performer

Neck is ready for the headstock to be profiled and slotted. I have a couple of new jigs that will greatly reduce the time and labor involved in executing this. The body is ready for binding and purfling route and install:

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My attitude towards rosettes is pretty simple: Any hardwood and veneer that has an interesting look is fair game. I like to use natural hardwood veneers for the ring lines and for herringbones. I inlay directly into the top in stages: Route channels for hardwoods and/or herringbone, glue those in, let dry and level. Then rout channels for the veneer lines, glue those in, let dry and level. Mary and I were in a hardwood store a few weeks back. The spalted maples they had just did not have much in the way of “inking”, which is precisely what makes those look interesting. They did have a block of spalted tamarind that had very nice inking, but it was not big enough to yield continuous circles. It sure made for nice tiles, though:

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The simple things often are exactly what works the best. This is the same workboard I have used for joining plates since day one of my adventures in lutherie. It just works, so why change? Dig my weights: