Adding the rosette to an instrument marks, to me, the beginning of putting the raw components together to make an ukulele.  Top and bottom joined and thicknessed, sides bent with kerfing added, and the neck is ready for shaping.

For this uke, I wanted just a couple of strands of black/white purfling to the white mother-of-pearl (MOP) rosette.  BTW, purchased the rosette from DePaule Supply and the quality is remarkable.  First up was adjusting the circle cutter to exactly match the depth needed (0.055″) and width (0.125″) of the MOP.  The new Stew-Mac circle cutter jig is a joy to use with an adjuster that makes dialing in exact diameters within a thousandths of an inch do-able.  Once the MOP fit nicely, I increased the diameter oh so slightly (0.040″)  to insert 2 strips of purfling.  The black against the white MOP helps accent the rosette.  Flooded the area with extra thin super glue, scraped, then thickness sanded the top to complete the top.  Added an extra photo to show how figured this Koa is.  Notice how the coloring of the wood changes based on the angle of the shot.

Wrapped up today’s work on this uke with a cleanup of any excess glue along the kerfing.