Basically I decided to show you how I am going step by step on the blue shark that will go on the chimera headstock classical guitar for Dr. Douglas Fields.

First things first- this is on a NON radiused classical fretboard- that makes this one easier. It's totally flat. The board is ebony, also easy. So- this is an EASY inlay!

For example..
Start out like this- " I really want a killer inlaid tropical rainforest scene on a guitar" how can I make that happen? THEN worry about materials, etc..
If your staring at a single piece of pearl in front of you wondering what to do with it you are limiting yourself a lot!

You'll notice design-wise.
For one the shark is extremely foreshortened, he's going to look like he's swimming out of the fretboard. Also the top fins are cut off, he's swimming through the board. You don't need to shove or fit the whole design into a small space. The human mind will piece in what is missing as long as the main parts of the image are there. To much and it looks off, but done correctly it adds a new dimension to the art, and looks really unique.
More soon.

1. Make sure all your lines join each other so they can be cut out separately later like a puzzle. Any un-joined lines mean starting over. You can create free ending lines with a graver tool later, as your engraving skills get better. More on engraving later

2. I draw all my art for patterning with a drafting pencil. I use #8H led- very hard, for drawing thin clear lines. These lines will photocopy nicely, and are good for getting extremely close tight cuts. The thicker the pattern lines, the more off your cutting will be, the more gaps between pieces you will have in your inlay. These are hard to hide, so just prevent them with good cutting to begin with.

3. When photocopying you can shrink the pattern a little, making the lines thinner.

4. Make about 15 or so photocopies of your original, and use these to piece out your inlay materials.

Filing is for the areas where you didn't cut as accurately as you SHOULD have. Don't PLAN on doing it, and if your going to make mistakes cut outside the line, so you don't have to throw out the piece. The goal is to cut away the lines, leaving a completely tight fit, each piece having it's half of the original line shaved off, totally tight. But you will gain those skills as you go. For a completely new beginner some filing is going to happen. It happens to me in almost every piece (total piece that is- not each piece of shell) Most are tight from the start. Pierced pieces almost always need at least a little something filed off.

I rout using a Foredom flex shaft tool. Basically a fancy Dremel.
I use The Stew-Mac down cut carbide bits in decreasing size as I get nearer to the edge of the rout pattern. I normally end at the 1/32 size. These bits are great, last a long time, and cut extremely clean.

No pictures of routing, sorry. You guys know how to rout though, right? Now that you have scribed around that with a #11 exacto knife (or some people like to use scribes, but to me they don't cut as deep). Then we removed the inlay, cleaned everything off with acetone, and rubbed white chalk over the lines to highlight them as a routing pattern. We then got our depth and routed to as perfect a fit as possible.

Check your depth with a small piece of the shell that is the thinnest in your inlay, to make sure the depth is where you want it to be. Remember it's easier to rout deeper, raising an inlay takes a little practice as the glues in most cases shrink, so you have far less control over that. After the rout is done, and everything fits nice, fill the hole with your glue. If its epoxy make sure you mixed correctly, and add some to the hole, then add the inlay, then add more over the top. Make sure every seam and open area is filled with glue. If your using CA, use the thinnest you can find, fill some in the hole, place in the inlay, and if in ebony, take some ebony dust and fill the edges between the rout and the inlay with the dust. It will seep in making the edge look almost flawless after leveling, and it keeps the extremely thin glue under control from running all over as you add glue.

The thin glues are about the same viscosity as water, so be careful with them. It's easy to get it all over, AND it's superglue. Wear a mask as well for any of the woodworking steps.

Superglue can cause a reaction almost like getting the flue. Trust me it is extremely lame
I work the glue with a mask AND a fan going.
The ebony dust trick works nice in ebony, however it does not for almost any other woods.

At this point your inlay should look like crap

If using epoxy clamp the inlay down. Epoxy doesn't shrink, and the inlay needs to sit as flush with the rout as possible.

You'll notice the two different glues in this picture.
I use the green Duco cement to hold inlay to the wood for scribing, and the red 3M glue for piecing out the pattern on my materials.

After 24 hours you can start to level the inlay down. I don't care how long the package says it takes the glue to cure, or how much of a hurry your in because yours so excited about the piece.
You want your work to be around for years, so why not take the proper time making it? Let the glue fully cure. Otherwise you may be sanding wet glue.

Then using a flat bottom solid wood block (any other will possibly have flex to it, sanding unevenly- a no-no on musical instruments- especially fretboards)
start at 80 grit, and work your way down to 120, then 220, then 400 grit papers.

I start using 120 about when there is still glue all around the inlay, but the inlay is becoming visible.
I go to 220 grit when the glue is almost gone, but there is still enough to see the glue clearly, then when the glue is almost wisp thin, but still there, I go to 400. I use them all dry except for when leveling plastics. If I have plastics in an inlay, like the shark here, I'll go to 220 dry, then finish off with 400 wet, (or with oil) and then even go to 600 to buff out the plastics. Some may need higher grits..

If your happy with the inlay you can stop at this point, and you should be pretty proud.

I am almost never happy with it at this stage, so I break out my graver tool to add all those details you can't get with cuts.

The graver is the silver one with my technical pencil on top. Most people use a handle on it as well, but recently I have been having a better time without the handle. I feel like I have more control without it.
Gravers are used for engraving, and I am FAR FAR from an expert on that. I am learning as I go on engraving, but I can tell you far less people hand engrave these days than do inlay. I wish I knew of a good tutorial on it, but I don't. Gun engravers can teach you how to engrave, but they are few and far between as well.
What little I know basically is this. Draw out your pattern on the material you want to engrave on with the pencil, or pen if your good enough to control the ink. When using pearl try to choose the most pattern free/plain MOP you can find. High figure pearl with blur the lines with the pattern, and it fractures out easier.

After you draw out your pattern, gently (one wrong scratch means you just ruined all your previous work- not fun on a 75 hour inlay... - No I'm NOT kidding- you can't fill an incorrect deep graver scratch. You can only SAND it out) and gently scratch away at your pattern going deep with the graver each time. You will make a little "track" for your graver to follow as you go, but the key I have found so far is relatively low pressure, and smooth tracking. Stop after each pass, and replace the cut. Fill your cuts with either colored wax paste or inks.
And remember, the engraving will wear with play, so keep your highest engraved areas toward the more non-used regions of the fingerboard if that's where the inlay is going. Proper engraving takes hours. It's a separate art than inlay, with rules and skills all it's own. Take your time and don't rush it. Some engraving artists' engraved pieces took years.