mooboo Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I am wanting to make a small inlayed jewelry box for my woman for her birthday. However, I can't find a decent price on MOP/abalone sheets. I've seen faux and imitation and the like. I'm wanting as large of a piece as I can get for around $30. Can anyone help me out? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverside Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I am wanting to make a small inlayed jewelry box for my woman for her birthday. However' date=' I can't find a decent price on MOP/abalone sheets. I've seen faux and imitation and the like. I'm wanting as large of a piece as I can get for around $30. Can anyone help me out? Thank you![/quote'] Have you ever seen an abalone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooboo Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 Yes, but I am looking for cutable sheets so that I can do inlays. What does that question have to do with what I'm asking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverside Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Yes' date=' but I am looking for cutable sheets so that I can do inlays. What does that question have to do with what I'm asking?[/quote'] Abalone don't grow in sheets. Neither do the oysters that produce the nacre known as Mother-of-Pearl. Did you have a look at StewMac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooboo Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 Oh, pardon my misunderstanding. I knew that they were not grown in sheets. Being new to this sort of thing I just associated the material to be publicly available pre-cut into sheets. I did take a look at stewmac but I don't know what to reference their prices with. I'm not sure exactly what to expect to be a fair price. I see a website called http://www.dukeofpearl.com/ but I don't know what to buy! There's veneer, laminate, strips, whole shells, etc. What would you suggest being a good price to inlay the top of a jewelry box? After some time I'd like to make a pickguard but that is far off. What material would be best for these situations? Thank you for any help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverside Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Oh' date=' pardon my misunderstanding. I knew that they were not grown in sheets. Being new to this sort of thing I just associated the material to be publicly available pre-cut into sheets. I did take a look at stewmac but I don't know what to reference their prices with. I'm not sure exactly what to expect to be a fair price.I see a website called http://www.dukeofpearl.com/ but I don't know what to buy! There's veneer, laminate, strips, whole shells, etc. What would you suggest being a good price to inlay the top of a jewelry box? After some time I'd like to make a pickguard but that is far off. What material would be best for these situations? Thank you for any help![/quote'] I suppose you have to ask yourself about just excatly what you want it look like when you're finished, and then go from there. I've never seen an abalone that would produce enough shiny stuff to make even the smallest pickguard. StewMac is probably as fair priced (for the quality) as you're likely to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 WOW, this is the first I've looked into M.O.P and abalone prices, they are not cheap. but the duke of pearl site seems to be the most resonable. I think that she will love a jewelry box made of this, i know i would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooboo Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 Well the whole jewelry box isn't going to be pearl/ab nor would the pickguard. When I was speaking of both I would start with wood and inlay the pearl or abalone into the wood. Starting with the jewelry box I was going to inlay her name on the top of it. It would just be "Aura Kay" in a decent sized font. To start out with just a run of the mill MOP inlay would work. Nothing fancy to start out with. Does that give you an idea of what material type I would need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverside Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Well the whole jewelry box isn't going to be pearl/ab nor would the pickguard. When I was speaking of both I would start with wood and inlay the pearl or abalone into the wood. Starting with the jewelry box I was going to inlay her name on the top of it. It would just be "Aura Kay" in a decent sized font. To start out with just a run of the mill MOP inlay would work. Nothing fancy to start out with. Does that give you an idea of what material type I would need? Bits and pieces, just like everything else that uses those materials. Please show us what you've made when you're done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooboo Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 I sure will once I find a decent place to purchase the stuff. Wish someone would chime in that has done this process recently! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I've bought both abolone and mop from stew mac. I don't know about other sources though but with stew mac you will know that their stuff is usually good quality. They actually sell (or used to) an acoustic laminate pick guard in abolone. It was made with thin strips of veneer glued to a regular pick guard. You wouldn't want to make a pick guard out of plain mop or abolone because its too brittle. Oh and when you saw the mop/abolne wear a mask - get one at walmart for like $1. I didn't one night and the next morning my nose was bleeding because the tiny abrasive particles tore up the lining in my nasle passage way. Why does Yoda's post say "Banned for this post?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooboo Posted October 27, 2009 Author Share Posted October 27, 2009 I went to custom inlay's website and they have 5"x9" sheets of pearl essence for 10$. I think that would be the best stuff to start out with as I have no idea what I'm doing! It also looks very beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 The thing about cutting with pearl/abolone is that you don't really need the biggest sizes for the work. Most inlay work is actually cut into smaller size pieces and then put together like a simple puzzle of sorts. So if you begin with a large piece you may actually end up wasting a lot. However, if you are cutting one big solid inlay - such as a big bird or something then a large piece is ok, but if you look at most guitar inlay you can see that it's not usually one solid piece - blocks, trapazoids etc... are one piece but look closely at the Gibson logo - multiple pieces. They better you are at inlay, the harder it is to see the individual pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooboo Posted October 27, 2009 Author Share Posted October 27, 2009 Awesome! Have you done this practice before? I could really use help creating an item list. I've got all the usual: Dremel with router head wood filler sandpaper 200, 600, 800, 1000 wood chisel jewelers saw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Awesome! Have you done this practice before? I could really use help creating an item list. I've got all the usual:Dremel with router head wood filler sandpaper 200' date=' 600, 800, 1000 wood chisel jewelers saw[/quote'] I have started a project, but have never finished it. I also had the saw lubricant. I also bought the pearl chisel because I planned on cutting into the pearl and filling it in with black filler. You'll want a block of wood for supporting and cutting the pearl. You should buy a book and learn how before you begin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.