JiMoSiTY Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 OK Guys, I've got some very very thin abalone that I can cut with a pair of scissors or x-acto knife, but I'm having problems cutting it in perfect circles to use as inlays (standard size, round). How can I cut these things into circles correctly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wylde1919 Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 They make some really good circle cutters you can get from walmart or michaels. They have a shard blade that should be good enough if you can cut it with scissors but im not 100% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiMoSiTY Posted December 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 Circle cutters, huh? I may have to stop by Michael's and check. Any idea on the size that I'll need if it's going to be the same as a normal round circle inlay (Ibanezes are what I'm working on). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 I'd be surprised if those hole punch things really work with something as brittle as abalone. As far as I know, the dots are made by using a plug cutter (from Home Depot, ...) but I wouldn't think it would be easy to do. Maybe since you say it works with scissors it will work with one of those hole punch jobies? If you do end up cutting the shell with something that creates dust, be careful about the dust - it's very harmful. Most people wear a respirator. - Just in case you didn't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 Some places use a Laser Cutter to do the Circles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page_Master Posted December 16, 2003 Report Share Posted December 16, 2003 you might already know this, but you can buy pre cut circle abalone at stewmac. Page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the third eye Posted December 16, 2003 Report Share Posted December 16, 2003 are dot inlay sizes a universal thing though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser Posted December 16, 2003 Report Share Posted December 16, 2003 there isn't a standard size, but you could probably just measure the diameter. it would make sense though that all ibanez's would use the same size, but i don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted December 16, 2003 Report Share Posted December 16, 2003 Standard Ibanez inlay dots are 6.5mm, 1/4" works fine. Laser won't cut shell worth a damn, I've tried many times and talked to my suppliers about it. The laser heats the shell to much and it basically starts to disintegrate. Water Jet cutting is very common for shell. You can cut round dots with a plug cutting drill bit, but I would suggest using a cutting oil so the bits don't dull as fast and then wash your abalone in acetone. However, your very thin abalam sheet that you have will probably crack. I would honestly try a hole punch, but dont' be slow and gentle about it, get it in your hole punch and SNAP! punch it as hard and fast as you can. It will probably sheer a nice clean edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clavin Posted December 16, 2003 Report Share Posted December 16, 2003 How thin is it? I would think you would not want to inlay anything less than .03, Just sanding it could take off as much as .02. Eastern (japan/ China) inlay artists work with .02 to .03, but the inlays are basically unstable, and crack easily. Spend $5.00 and buy real dots from rescuepearl.com Just my two cents. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the third eye Posted December 16, 2003 Report Share Posted December 16, 2003 on my jem though it looks like there are 3 sizes of dot used.... 3-9 12-21 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiMoSiTY Posted December 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2003 I was able to use a 1/4" hole punch for all except the 24th fret, those I did by hand. I did use a hole punch, worked ok but not great. I tried doing it very fast and that failed most of the time, doing it slow just enough to get thru the abalone worked, then I punched a piece of heavy cardstock to get it thru the rest of the way and that worked better. Thanks guys. I saw that stew-mac had the pre-cut inlays, but I was trying to use up some stuff I had laying around... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted December 17, 2003 Report Share Posted December 17, 2003 Laser won't cut shell worth a damn, I've tried many times and talked to my suppliers about it. The laser heats the shell to much and it basically starts to disintegrate. We use laser to cut our inlay. I have no idea what you're talking about as far as shell desintegrating. It doesn't happen to our stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted December 17, 2003 Report Share Posted December 17, 2003 Tried laser to cut a bit of pearl the other day. Worked fine. Laser wont cut abalam, it burns. Thats my experience, yours may differ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted December 17, 2003 Report Share Posted December 17, 2003 Laser won't cut shell worth a damn, I've tried many times and talked to my suppliers about it. The laser heats the shell to much and it basically starts to disintegrate. We use laser to cut our inlay. I have no idea what you're talking about as far as shell desintegrating. It doesn't happen to our stuff Ok, I'll take your word for it. I've tried using laser to cut shell, its always given me a brittle edge with a white powder all around it. I talked to the guys at DePaule supply about it as well and they said laser is a very poor method of cutting shell as it makes the shell more brittle as well, but hey, if it works for you that's all that matters. I was just relaying my personal experience with laser and what the suppliers have told me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted December 17, 2003 Report Share Posted December 17, 2003 but hey, if it works for you that's all that matters. I was just relaying my personal experience with laser and what the suppliers have told me. Hey no offense taken In your original post you made a gratutitous assertion that Lasers don't cut shell and I had a different experience so I posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted December 17, 2003 Report Share Posted December 17, 2003 As it sits, after hearing from you that you have successfully cut shell with laser I took a couple more blanks back to the laser shop to see if they can make them cut well. How are you running your laser? Power as high as possible and moving the beam as quick as possible to keep the heat out of the shell as long as possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhoads56 Posted December 18, 2003 Report Share Posted December 18, 2003 I just want to clarify what i said. Abalam wont work, i tried it personally. MOP will, according to the laser operator, as they said they had done some for a fellow before, and then even let me look at the cad patterns (it was a tribal thingy). But, i didnt actually see them cutting the MOP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted December 18, 2003 Report Share Posted December 18, 2003 I'm not sure Jeremy, I'll ask our guy this weekend and find out exactly how he does it. I'm not an inlay guy I just do frets and setup for the most part Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted December 18, 2003 Report Share Posted December 18, 2003 Scott, Have you guys had abalone laser cut? That is what we tried with poor results the first time, or just Pearl? I know Pearl cuts easier by hand, perhaps the composition of the pearl allows it to laser cut when abalone won't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted December 18, 2003 Report Share Posted December 18, 2003 Wow, where do you guys manage to get your hands on a laser? I just bought some perfect 3/8" (~5mm) Mexican abalone dots from a place called the Rockhound Shop, 25 cents each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted December 18, 2003 Report Share Posted December 18, 2003 We've had MOP, Abalone, Donkey Shell all cut with a laser. I'll check on the details this weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Posted December 18, 2003 Report Share Posted December 18, 2003 Wow, where do you guys manage to get your hands on a laser? I just bought some perfect 3/8" (~5mm) Mexican abalone dots from a place called the Rockhound Shop, 25 cents each. I would imagine they're talking about laser milling, which isn't cheap, but I would imagine it's quite efficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrathchild Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Wow, where do you guys manage to get your hands on a laser? I just bought some perfect 3/8" (~5mm) Mexican abalone dots from a place called the Rockhound Shop, 25 cents each. I would imagine they're talking about laser milling, which isn't cheap, but I would imagine it's quite efficient. ← Hello to everybody. I am new here, I searched the forum but I haven't found any results on quiery "Offset Dot Inlays".... well, I found this topic similar to my question (even someone on the first page had mentioned different sizes of Ibanez JPM, RG 3xxx and USA Custom fingerboard inlays...) Well, if anyone could tell me (measure me) what are the radiuses of those offset dot inlays? I know that 3-5-7-9 inlays are the same radius, 12 is little smaller, 15-17-19-21 and 24 are even more smaller.... am I right? Please correct me if I'm wrong, and please give me the exact radius numbers. (P.S. that's the most sexy inlay of all times.... offset... so simple, so charming ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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