Earlier this year, I made a “phantasy psaltery” that featured a star of david rosette on the soundboard, and I’ve got several inquiries and requests about it.

Now, I’m currently working on a special order psaltery that will have this very same rosette style, so I thought I’d take the opportunity and show the process of making this decoration in more detail.

Please reference the pictures below when reading these descriptions.

1.) First, the rosette itself, although very complex-looking is relatively simple in design, and is made of only two components. Each of these two components are assembled to form the six tips of the star. So, a total of 12 pieces have to be cut, six of each component, with half being in one color/design of banding, and the other half being of a contrasting color/design.

2.) You can see that the six assembled pieces are loosely laid out to form two interlocking triangles. Chances are, when you bring the points together, they will not fit together cleanly at all.

3.) The rosette has now been carefully glued together. Perhaps the most difficult part is getting all the pieces to fit together, as an adjustment in just one piece will affect the fit of the entire star.

4.) The last step is to inlay the completed star into the soundboard, and cut out the seven holes for the soundhole. This tends to get a bit tedious for me—I’m certainly not cut out to be a wood-carver! (No pun intended.)

1.) The six points.	2.) Loosely laid out.
3.) Glued together	4.) Inlaid and sanded flush