We mill the ring (we glue the hardwood wedges to 1/64" aircraft plywood commonly sold in hobby and craft shops), then mill the recess in the top .005" or so oversized versus the milled ring, then glue the ring in the recess with fish or hide (although Titebond or medium CA could also be used).
We then mill the inside and outside purfling channels to fit (usually about .001"-.002" greater than the purfling stack), shellac with 1 pound cut, and use thin CA to glue in the purfling. The spray shellac sold by Home Depot is blonde, dewaxed shellac, and will work well for first sealing the top prior to milling the channel for the ring, then for sealing the freshly milled purfling channels.
To sealing, spray shellac along the path of the channel, run the trimmed-to-size tip of a coffee stirring stick or popsicle stick through the channels to evenly distribute the shellac, then wipe off the excess. For liquid shellac used for detail work, or if a brush is preferred for wetting out the channels, a quick spray from the can into a poly container (the type delis or Chinese restaurants commonly use for soups/sauces/etc.) will give you liquid shellac at 1 lb cut which can then be brushed as needed for sealing duties. Shellac mixed from flake has a life of about 6 months, while shellac packaged in spray cans will last years.
For what it is worth, Starbucks coffee stirring sticks are about 1/2 the thickness of popsicle sticks, so are very handy for this task...I save my stirrers after use, so avoid that embarrassing moment when the millennial 'barista' asks me if I need more stirrers after jamming a few dozen in my pocket.
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