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Inlay material


UnForgiven

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Does anybody know where I can get chrome color material for making a JEM vine inlay. It dosen't have to be actual chrome (thats probably too expensive). Maybe like a chrome acrylic or urthene. Do they make liquid material that solidifies that you can pour into the cavity for the chrome look?

Thanks for your help.

Ryan

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let me use this opportunity to make myself clear here.

this forum is for people to ask questions...brian has made it clear to me that reasonable questions are to be supported as much as possible...so much so that he does not wish an faq section because that would cut down on questions and learning opportunities from and for new members...upon careful consideration i understand the wisdom of his position

in other words...if a member is made to feel that his question is "stupid" or "been done before",then that will make him ask fewer questions and will cut down on the learning for all of us

what if instead of asking this question unforgiven had researched the old posts and found the old thread?then he would not have asked and any NEW members that might have a better or cheaper method(maybe one that looks different)would have never had the opportunity to share and we all would miss the new information

i HOPE this makes sense to all of you...if it does not,then maybe a more oppresive forum would be to your liking....i am sure others could direct you to them :D

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I completely agree - that's the kind of stuff that goes on over at mimf and it's exactly why so many people don't like that site.

As for the question - try santafe jewelers supply - they have tons of cool inlayable material. I don't think they have anything that's actual chrome but they have things like silver, ... that I'm currently using and it looks great.

Let me know if you can't find it, I'll try to dig up the web address. It's something like www.sfjs.com or something like that.

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As for the question - try santafe jewelers supply - they have tons of cool inlayable material. I don't think they have anything that's actual chrome but they have things like silver, ... that I'm currently using and it looks great.

Let me know if you can't find it, I'll try to dig up the web address. It's something like www.sfjs.com or something like that.

Do you mean Indian Jeweler's Supply? I dealt with them a lot back in my jewelry days. Great people to deal with and they carry only the best.

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@Wes: I agree with you 100%

@UnForgiven: I would definately use inlay material which is already solid and not look for something to pour into the cavities. I imagine it is nearly impossible to cut that sharp and exact cavities that this approach looks good in the end. With solid inlays you can always fill little gaps with sawdust or filler and nobody will be able to see them. Pouring something in the cavity will show even the slightest flaws in your routing without mercy.

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this might be what daveq was talking about earlier?:

http://www.sfjssantafe.com/

Cool, that is a new one on me, they came along after I had started doing bix with IJS. I was always so happy with IJS that I didn't bother to look further unless I needed something local. There is another company in Albuquerque but I can't fish the name out of my brain right now.

On a side note. Look into using fine silver rather than .925 Sterling. The fine silver is more malleable so it would be easier to hammer/burnish into the routes and is more tarnish resistant. Fine silver will wear and scratch a little easier but that shouldn't be a big problem on a fret board. There should be no price difference.

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this might be what daveq was talking about earlier?:

http://www.sfjssantafe.com/

That's the place!

If you are just using dots or some other pre-made shape don't worry about sterling vs. pure silver. I talked with a jeweler who gets these for me locally (thicker than what santafe has) and he actually recommended the sterling. I'm only using the dots though so if that's not what you are going to do then I don't know what would be best.

I'm a little confused about what Marcel was saying about pouring into a cavity and why it would be a problem? I haven't tried it but I would think that you'd have a better shot at filling the gaps that way and even if you don't you'd be no worse off once it has hardened than any other material, right?

Good luck.

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I'm a little confused about what Marcel was saying about pouring into a cavity and why it would be a problem? I haven't tried it but I would think that you'd have a better shot at filling the gaps that way and even if you don't you'd be no worse off once it has hardened than any other material, right?

My reasoning is that if you pour for example a silver material in the cavity and it has mistakes and is not precisely routed, then the hardened silver has exactly the shape of the cavity with all it's flaws and you are not able to fill the gaps anymore, as they are already filled with the silver. Usually if you have a precisely cut inlay and a not that great cavity it still looks good, because the inlay looks great and has the correct shape and you can fill the gaps with a filler that looks like the fingerboard and no one will be able to see your routing mistakey anymore.

The liquid inlay will have the same messed up outlines as the cavity itself.

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Have a look at this thread:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...?showtopic=5237

It's talking about silver and theres a link to the tutorial.

My understanding of pouring into the cavaties was that most liquids will change size when they solidify. If they shrink (such as casting resin) your inlay will fall out (worst case). Obviously this isn't true with the silver (otherwise Brian wouldn't do it) but it's worth keeping in mind if you're experimenting :D

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this might be what daveq was talking about earlier?:

http://www.sfjssantafe.com/

That's the place!

If you are just using dots or some other pre-made shape don't worry about sterling vs. pure silver. I talked with a jeweler who gets these for me locally (thicker than what santafe has) and he actually recommended the sterling. I'm only using the dots though so if that's not what you are going to do then I don't know what would be best.

I curious as to why your friend recomends sterling. The only real reason that I'm aware of for using sterling over fine is for high wear conditions like jewelry or tableware. Fine won't hold up as well but that is for something like a ring that is subjected to constant abuse. A fretboard doesn't have to deal with anything more abrasive than your fingers unless you have flat frets

If you're using dots I wouldn't worry about silver content, I was thinking more along the lines of a vine inlay where you would lay wire into the channel and work it in. That is where the softer wire would be important.

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