Post #12 - Clamping update

More top braces and head and tail blocks.

Post #11 - Minor update: gluing down the cross braces with clamps, again with liquid hide glue.  Clean up the glue squeeze out with moist rag to make glue clean up easier after drying.

Prior to gluing down the braces, I notched out one of the x-brace legs to receive the tone bars.

Post# 10 - Bracing set up

Now the that rosette and backstrip are done, I cut the top and back on the band saw to approximate shape in preparation for bracing set up. 

Since the previous post of the top didn't show a good pic of the rosette, I'm posting another shot.  As is customary, any imperfection toward the neck (e.g., using filing materials) will be covered by the fingerboard.

I drew up the bracing pattern for the top using a typical Martin style.   The cross brace is situated 1.25" from the soundhole; otherwise, I generally followed the bracing plan from the stew-mac Herringbone plan, with just a few modifications to conform to the Martin plan.

Post# 9 - Backstrip finish

I used painter's tape to protect the back. I'll be using a block planer to bring the back strip down to sanding level.  The back was clamped to the workbench with cauls and weights.

Here is a close up of the strips that are planed off.  Once I get it close to flush, I'll switch to sanding with a block sander and 120 grit paper.

And the finished backstrip.

Post #8 - Rosette and backstrip update.

Since it easiest to sand pearl to bring it level, I ran the soundboard through the drum sander for several passes until the rosette inlay strips were close to level.

When, it was close to flush, I mounted the soundboard back on the work bench, where I used a palm sander to sand down until almost flush.  Then, finally hand sanding with a block sander.  My outer ring cut was not very accurate, and so the gaps will need to be filled in with a mixture of sawdust and glue.

For the backstrip, I am using the "HD-style" zig zag backstrip.  I set up a straight edge fence using a level as shown below.  The router will glide along the fence to route the cavity for the backstrip.

Here's the stew-mac binding/router attachment mounted to the dremel.  I set the depth of the cut to be about half-way through the thickness of the back.  

To get a clean channel, I performed a pass on this side, and then flipped the back around, and made another pass on the other side.  After a few tiny adjustments of the fence and a few more passes, the channel width was  just right.

Here, I test dry fit the backstrip.

I'm trying the Titebond liquid hide glue for this build and used that for gluing the backstrip into the channel.  Below, I'm using a straight edge and a few weights to "clamp" down the backstrip.  After drying it will be time to level it, and move on to the bracing.

Post #7 - Rosette installation

Got a chance to install the rosette tonight. Well, that was harder than I remember. The inner and outer rings weren't that bad, but installing the middle purfling was not as easy at all. Now I know why they charge $$$ for fancy rosettes. In the pictures below, you can see the white teflon piece installed with the purfling bunch in the center ring. It functions to reserve space for the abalone pearl, and is removed once the rings are established. The vacancy left by the teflon piece is then filled with the pearl pieces. Time to let it dry overnight. After sanding level with the top and cleaning the excess glue, it should come out okay. The other fun part of tonight's project was cleaning all the dried cement from my fingers. Hopefully I will have time to install the back strip tomorrow.

Post #6 - routing for rosette

I started by laying out the template and outlining the guitar edge on the top wood.

Next step was to drill a pivot point at the center of the rosette.  I used the same drill bit as the pivot pin for the rosette cutting jig.  The first cut was the inner ring.  I used the edge of the soundboard to do a few test cuts to check for proper depth before making the ring cuts.

Here I am dry fitting the center rosette purflings to check for proper width.

Finally, cutting the outer ring to the same width as the inner ring.

Another shot of the outer ring:

Last cut is the soundhole, and the top is ready for installing the rosette.