Bone

[daveq]

I haven't seen bone listed anywhere for inlay material. Does anyone sell it in the same thickness as MOP or abalone? Is it easy to just cut a piece yourself?

[Southpa]

Depends on what size you need. I know cowbone is used and you can buy bone acoustic guitar saddle blanks roughly 4" long X 1/2" wide X approx. 1/8" thick at most guitar repair shops. I'm not sure where you can get wider pieces but you might be able to use a couple widths of those to get what you need. Whenever I cut out a new saddle I always save the scraps for potential inlay pieces like dots or sidemarkers.

[LGM Guitars]

I don't really know where you'd use bone much in inlay, it's kind of crappy looking material IMO. I wouldn't want to put it next to a piece of shell, it would look pretty plain. But I've never seen it in thin blanks like inlay blanks, you'd have to recut it yourself I suppose. I haven't found anything that smells worse than bone when cut that's for sure.

[Southpa]

I haven't found anything that smells worse than bone when cut that's for sure.

I was given a bag o' cowhorns last summer. Was trying to cut nut blanks with little success. The stuff is too curvy and saw blades want to follow the grain. And it smells worse than bone, .

[daveq]

I don't really know where you'd use bone much in inlay

For objects that are supposed to be bones (skull & crossbones, ...). I think I may actually try using synthetic material in the future.