Tiger eye

[Werewolf]

I am wanting to create Tiger Eye (Gemstone) and Howlite (Gemstone) fretboard inlays and headstock logos. 
I am not yet familiar with the inlaying process required for these types of materials and I’m wanting some assistance. 
I have a range of guitars I want to do this for. 
is there an instructional video that somebody could point me to please. 
sincerely Pete. Werewolf Guitars. 

[Professor Woozle]

I'm not aware of any videos on gemstone inlaying but I have in the past done some cloisonne garnet work so here's a few suggestions for the gemstone working at least. Firstly, having access to a geological circular saw is a big advantage when cutting the mineral slices, particularly for brittle/fracture-prone minerals. If the minerals you're working do tend to fracture then they can be stabilised with epoxy resins, for example the decorative variety of Fluorite known as Blue John is vaccuum impregnated with epoxy resin before cutting/turning to stop it shattering.

For shaping, I guess dental burrs will be the fastest option for removing material but wet or dry paper (used wet) is what you'll need for the final passes, and beware of chipping at the edges of the work piece - unfortunately, very easy to do with a lot of minerals when thinly sliced.

As for the actual mounting, for translucent minerals like tiger eye you may want to consider a reflective backing to really get the best effect. Traditionally, cloisonne garnet work has each piece backed with a waffle-cut piece of gold foil so that light is reflected back through the garnet, giving it a magnificent blood-red glow like this :

I'm not sure how would be best to go about finishing once mounting, whether it would be better to fit the pieces in the wood slightly recessed and sand the wood down to the mineral top, or fit slightly proud as you'd do with wood inlays and sand the inlays down. I'm sure others on here will have an opinion.

 

[Werewolf]

Thank you Prof. 
mill give it a go. I’ve got a lot of work in front of me. 

[Professor Woozle]

Just thought of something, which is that there might be some stuff online of use about Italian pietra dura stone inlay work, and there is: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pietra+dura

The plain wire and carborundum sawing technique looks worth a try, likewise the trick of sawing out at about 30 degrees making final shaping easier.

When you've got some bits done, please post some pics here - I'd like to see how it turns out for you.

[mistermikev]

On 5/6/2022 at 1:28 PM, Professor Woozle said:

I'm not aware of any videos on gemstone inlaying but I have in the past done some cloisonne garnet work so here's a few suggestions for the gemstone working at least. Firstly, having access to a geological circular saw is a big advantage when cutting the mineral slices, particularly for brittle/fracture-prone minerals. If the minerals you're working do tend to fracture then they can be stabilised with epoxy resins, for example the decorative variety of Fluorite known as Blue John is vaccuum impregnated with epoxy resin before cutting/turning to stop it shattering.

For shaping, I guess dental burrs will be the fastest option for removing material but wet or dry paper (used wet) is what you'll need for the final passes, and beware of chipping at the edges of the work piece - unfortunately, very easy to do with a lot of minerals when thinly sliced.

As for the actual mounting, for translucent minerals like tiger eye you may want to consider a reflective backing to really get the best effect. Traditionally, cloisonne garnet work has each piece backed with a waffle-cut piece of gold foil so that light is reflected back through the garnet, giving it a magnificent blood-red glow like this :

I'm not sure how would be best to go about finishing once mounting, whether it would be better to fit the pieces in the wood slightly recessed and sand the wood down to the mineral top, or fit slightly proud as you'd do with wood inlays and sand the inlays down. I'm sure others on here will have an opinion.

 

some lovely work there!!

[Professor Woozle]

The Sutton Hoo shoulder clasps, probably the most technically accomplished gold and garnet work to survive from antiquity....

Regarding the post with the links to pietra dura  videos, I should have made clear I was referring to the first video that came up on the results list, which showed how Italian craftsmen create their pieces. A couple of  thoughts on adapting these techniques to guitar building, for headstock inlays at least - if you're going to put a veneer on the headstock then the technique of cutting the inlay cells all the way through is probably the way to go. I guess you could do the same with a fingerboard, though you'd either need to use much thicker (and hence slower to cut) inlay pieces or use the cut-out pieces as backing for the inlay pieces maybe?