flamingsticks26 Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Hi. Just a quick question to you guys with more experience - does abalam hold up as fingerboard inlay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Hi. Just a quick question to you guys with more experience - does abalam hold up as fingerboard inlay? Ablam is laminated shell. It would hold up fine. There are some issues with Ablam(depending on your perspective). On a radiused fingerboard you may notice the laminations more as you sand through the layers(because of the radius). It is more expensive than solid shell blanks. The up side is larger size. However most fingerboard inlays especially multi piece do not benifit from the large blank. It is great for longer straight or curved strips(say rosettes or purfling). Another factor for fancy inlays with many pieces would be that you may have less selection unless you buy many sheets of Ablam and figure will change if you sand through the veneer layers much more than with solid shell. If you are planning large block inlays with a smallish shell(such as paua, or maybe red Abalone heart) you would probably do better with Ablam. Just depends on your design, but it is durable. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BNichols Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 (edited) All I know about Abalam is that it works when you need a big inlay. The quality would be good for fingerboards but abalam tends to have bubbles between the layers and the layers can be sanded through on rounded surfaces. otherwise it would work fine. edit:someone posted before me. i agree Edited May 9, 2007 by BNichols Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Works fine, can look OK (my first has abalam block inlays), but it looks slightly 'wrong' to me in larger inlays, because of the layers you sand through. It has its own kind of charm, even though it doesn't look like natural shell should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Works fine, can look OK (my first has abalam block inlays), but it looks slightly 'wrong' to me in larger inlays, because of the layers you sand through. It has its own kind of charm, even though it doesn't look like natural shell should. That is the thing about Ablam that makes it less appealing to me. The advantage is size(it costs more, and has issues with look if it is sanded*more so than solid shell). Yet in larger sizes it is most likely to look odd unless the surface requires no leveling. It is nice for installation in larger pieces for rosettes though, and as purfling it tends to have nice color matching(even though you still generally have to mak almost as many miters. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cSuttle Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Yep, works fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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