Paua Abalone Vine Inlay

[mikhailgtrski]

Hi,

I'm doing a fairly simple vine w/ thorns inlay in paua abalone.

Anybody have tips on laying out the shell blanks so the vine looks continuous, with no obvious joints?

Any other general suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

[frank falbo]

Just long miter joints. I would just do long miters inside the vine. If you look at Abalam, it's actually shavings that are laminated, so you could also do a miter joint that goes vertically. In other words, it angles down into the fretboard, instead of to the left or right. Then, as the abalone got thinner and eventually became the other piece, it would look more like a pattern in the abalone than an intersection. It would have to be less than a 45 degree angle, more like 20. Just try to get your joints in a more whitish section, rather than some thick black line that all of a sudden stops cold into a white pearlish section.

Edit: To clarify, abalone becomes more transparent as it gets thinner, so the point is to make the one piece disappear into the other. With a sideways miter you won't get that, you'll see the transition, but it will at least look better than a flat butt joint.

Edited May 20, 2005 by frank falbo

[Clavin]

Make a tracing of the fretboard the vine is going to go over.

make sure you add the fret slot lines.

Lay out the vine pattern so the cuts through the vine line up exactly with the fret slots. Choose shell pieces to best fit. Make sure when you make your pattern copies that you don't re-size them, or the fret breaks will be off.

That's how you handle fret slots/breaks in the inlay.

When you are done you won't have any breaks visible. They will all be covered over by frets.

Now, for where the vine curls (side pieces) attatch to the main part of the vine, just make sure that:

1) The flash angles all match- (actually this goes for the main central vine as well) shell has a natural bright, and off luminescence depending on what angle you look at it. Abalam is less so, but thats a different story. I'm talking about real shell. When you glue up your pieces make sure all the pieces flash the same way. That will keep the look consistant. A vine with dead areas looks bad.

Any parts of the offshoot vines from the main central part that do go through frets just treat as the other way. Cut them along the fret slots in your original pattern.

If you plan out everything properly your vine should look as if it's all relatively one piece. I don't have any to show you as personally I can't stand vines. Trust me this is how you do it.

Take your time with drawing and planning. It may not be the most fun or cool part, but in the end your guitar should hopefully well outlast any time spent planning. It's worth it.

C. Lavin

www.handcraftinlay.com

[mikhailgtrski]

Thanks Craig.

I got started cutting the abalone over the weekend and discovered pretty much what you described. So far it's going well.

Re: the flash angle - I didn't pay enough attention to it as I cut the pieces, but I think you're right, it makes a difference and I'd like to double-check it before I'm fully committed. Problem is, now I've got all these pieces with the tracing superglued to the top side. Is there a way to remove the paper & CA without sanding it off?

Thanks again for your help.

[mikhailgtrski]

Would soaking in acetone work? I can't imagine that it would damage the shell.

[Clavin]

Would soaking in acetone work?  I can't imagine that it would damage the shell.

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Just scrape it off carefully with a razor blade. I do that to all my pieces before gluing anyway. Flash angle means everything. Most people don't pay attention to it enough, or at all.

Best of luck.

Craig L.

[mikhailgtrski]

Just scrape it off carefully with a razor blade. I do that to all my pieces before gluing anyway. Flash angle means everything. Most people don't pay attention to it enough, or at all.

Best of luck.

Craig L.

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Tried the acetone last night. Soak for 10-20 minutes and you can peel the paper & CA right off. My flash angles are pretty good for the most part, just a few sections that I want to recut. Some of pieces have heart material and they don't flash the same as the rest.

Thanks for the tip, Craig.

[Clavin]

Your welcome.

Craig L

Just scrape it off carefully with a razor blade. I do that to all my pieces before gluing anyway. Flash angle means everything. Most people don't pay attention to it enough, or at all.

Best of luck.

Craig L.

←

Tried the acetone last night. Soak for 10-20 minutes and you can peel the paper & CA right off. My flash angles are pretty good for the most part, just a few sections that I want to recut. Some of pieces have heart material and they don't flash the same as the rest.

Thanks for the tip, Craig.

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