How to make large rosettes?

[Wes Billups]

I am replacing windows in my house and at the same time replacing the exterior trim with PVC. I'm having trouble sourcing large rosettes (6-1/2" square) so I've resigned myself to the fact it might make sense to manufacture my own.
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I'm having trouble locating either a method or tool that will allow me to make my own. The actual round portion needs to be approximately 5" in diameter.

I know I could turn them on my lathe but that will be a tremendous amount of work based on the number I need to make.

Does anyone have suggestions? I would also be willing to purchase them but have been unable to find a retailer that sells anything larger than 5-1/4" square rosettes.

Thanks,
Wes

[Andrew Hughes]

The method to make them is with a lathe.If you don't have one ask around for someone that does it looks like a fun project.It would not be that hard even if your new to turning.
They don't have to be clones to look good since they are so far apart.

[Lee Schierer]

Amana Tools makes a rosette cutter with replaceable knives. You may be able to get a larger sized knives.

[Bradley Gray]

I made trim for a house out of synthetic decking one time, including attic vents. The decking glues nicely with gorilla glue and turns/works like soft pine.

Once you get a faceplate set up turning should be quick and easy.

[Wayne Lomman]

That specific design is a job for the lathe or else a specific cutter. You can make rosettes with a router and a pattern but you have to design it so that different cutters don't destroy the adjacent machined profile. Cheers

[Mark Canada]

CNC Router?

[Mel Fulks]

What I would do is get one of these turners to turn them out of good mahogany. Then make a mould of them from one of the stretchy silicones. Install the mahogany ones. If they ever rot ,use the mould to cast some more from paintable plastic. Think your key block needs to be couple inches taller and a little longer to pierce the casing bottom line.

[Bill Dufour]

You could buy the knives and use them in your lathe. I would use a four jaw chuck instead of a faceplate.
Bill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdDdVENy9sc

[Mel Fulks]

The rosette cutters I've seen would not be safe with the knives hanging out that far. They are for blocks closer to 4 inches. Unless you see a local demand for them the, tool and cutters are not a good investment.

[Bob Vaughan]

The advice of others is correct: Because of the scale and profile, they will have to be done on a lathe by hand. Most professional woodturners have done hundreds if not thousands of these over the years. The dinky little 3" circles cut by off-the-shelf gadgets simply don't look right on blocks over 4" square. Also, often the rosette profile has to match the casing profile. This was common on many interiors prior to WWII.

Check to see if there is a local AAW woodturning club. Contact someone there and ask if there are any professional (or semi-professional) turners. Professional turners get paid to turn what the customer wants. If there is a millwork shop or high end cabinet shop in town, maybe you could ask their estimators if they could give you the names of the professional turners they use.



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[Brad Shipton]

You could do those on a CNC, but you would need to look at the raised panel region to see if the cutter could traverse around the perimeter of the circle without cutting out regions of the profile outside the radius. It looks like it might be close from the pictures. If that were the case, I could cut out a 4'x8' sheet of these rosettes in about 2hours even on my smaller sized machine. I would use King Starboard plastic if you can find a color you like. I have cut that for window sills and other projects. It is not cheap, but it comes in 8 colors and works with all normal woodwork tools.