One of the anxiety producing stages is cutting the sound hole rosette. I started by making a larger platform for the drill press and making sure it was level in all directions. Then I made many test cuts with sample wood to make sure the bit was cutting evenly. We used the same rosette layout for the original guitar and thankfully we made a template that I could use to go by. After cutting the three different rings, I installed the wood strips and pre-cut shell strips then began the process of sanding and scraping and planing and scraping and sanding. Not in final stage at the end of the day, but as far as I wanted to go in a day.
This is the template from the original jumbo guitar. I use this to set the correct cutting bit and the right distance.
