How is the rose carved?
The carving of the rose is basically a two-step process. A disk of paper with a pattern is glued to the underside of the soundboard and the negative space is removed by using knives and/or gouges. The paper also helps to keep the delicate wood from breaking as it is carved. Then the soundboard is turned over and the surface of the rose is carved by a series of angled cuts and bevels. An alternative method is to glue a piece of reinforcing paper on the back of the soundboard, and then glue a second disk of paper with the pattern on the top of the soundboard. The negative space is then cut out from above, the top paper with the pattern carefully removed, and the carving continued from the top as before. This second system has two advantages. First, the cuts are all made from the top of the soundboard, so any misalignments as the knife cuts through the wood won’t be as noticeable. Second, a higher-quality paper can be used under the soundboard to support the wood when carving. This paper
