epoxy inlays?

[Dave M]

I keep seeing crushed jewels, shells, etc on Ebay, for inlay work. They sell clear jewlers epoxy for this purpose too. I know nothing about this, except that my ex girlfriend thinks that it is a jewelry technique, and that it is related to enamel jewelry making. Maybe they are using the epoxy, because the glazing stuff has to be baked to cure, which might not work so well on a guitar. (Stratocaster BBQ in the kiln anybody?)

I could see this looking nice on a guitar, maybe even combined with some fine metalwork, such as a headstock signature logo done with turquoise, coral, and MOP, with silver wire dividing the colors. (Churchwindow artwork anybody?) Am I onto something, or just out to lunch again? I remember seeing a couple of guitars a few years back, ,with small inlays of polished stones, and hammered silver in the headstock. The guy who made them was supposedly a jeweler from Chicago. They were really sharp.

Anybody actually know how to do this type of inlay? do you just rout it out, ,and pour the stuff in, or do you have to prepare the bottom of the cavity. Does it shrink, and pop out? Any books, or websites on it? (I tried searching, but all I came up with was people selling jewelry) How hard would it be to stick a polished stone, or piece of polished glass into an inlay.

I know I tend to get lost when I think outside the box, but sometimes the results are worth it.

Thanks for the time and advice.

Dave

[Brian]

Ever see a PRS Dragon? Plenty of polished stone work in there

Actually left to the imagination there really isn't much that can't be done just look at this guitar and this guitar.........

[Dave M]

Those are wild guitars. I had seen the cuttlefish when I first checked out the site. I hadn't seen the sushi yet. I guess if somebody can cast that, I can stick a few broken rocks in a headstock!

I think I will just get an old piece of wood, some sawdust, some clear epoxy. (I do resin casting and moldmaking) and grind up some shiny stuff, and see what I can make. If I like it, I will do it again, and put it in a headstock. I figure that the material wouldn't survive on a fretboard too long, although it might be neat to do a big fancy inlay with it on a scalloped fretboard. It would be able to handle the curved surfaces better than MOP, and it would not get as much abuse from strings and fingers.

(Maybe after being inspired by the cuttlefish guitar I could do a scalloped fretboard with ... Scallops!)

Thanks for the links,

Dave