Clavin

Abalam is held together by epoxy. Chuck Ericson and Larry Seifel hold tha patents on it, so as long as your sure your getting actual abalam, from whatever source, you should be safe with super glue remove on it. There are knock off abalams, which I can't vouch for. Best of luck. Craig L.

Gibson hardly puts real pearl on anything anymore. They have become the most overpriced guitars for the money I have seen. (IMHO) I am sure thats plastic. PRS started out being fantastic, but now they too are slipping in quality, woods, etc.. Mainly in woods. Their build is still relatively sound. C.Lavin

First off I'm guessing it's pearloid, not pearl, right? I have never seen real pearl with that triangular pattern to it. Only pearloid (plastic). Second. It's absolutely fine. It's really really good, hows that? I have had a little more filler around some of my work in areas than you have in that, it's just a matter of how your blending it in. That looks like epoxy to me. CA and wood dust turns up almost completely un-noticeable at 320 grit. You want a little gappage. Too tight and the inlays could pop out as the wood expands and contracts. It's also really closely viewed. I am sure it looks great in real life. Good job! As for the very slight roughness around the edges, yes a bit of filing could help, but it's so little.. Craig Lavin www.handcraftinlay.com

I'm using a Foredom router with the foot pedal to control the actual speed. However, I rarely find myself slowing down. I keep it full blast for even the thinnest of routing areas. I find the faster it goes the cleaner it works. I use the Stew Mac spiral downcut bits, 1/8 through 1/32. With most materials in the .06" and under thickness range, the actual amount of "angle" behind a radiused route is negligable. There is always going to be some type of small route gap anyway. Too tight and your inlays can pop out with expanding and contracting woods/glues. I would think for myself chipping away with a chisel is too risky, but that's me. There's always more than one way to perform any of these techniques. Craig

" If you just follow the radius, won't the sidewalls be curved a bit.": I have never had a problem with just using a router bit down to 1/32. I have done this in Maple, and many other woods. I never use a chisel either. Just a router, for every inlay I have ever done. I don't "underscore" the edges either. Some people do things I have never heard of. It doesn't mean it won't work, just that I haven't found it ever necessary. C. Lavin www.handcraftinlay.com

You don't need a jig, and your list is fine. Any depth deeper than the inlay material will fill in with glue. It's a NON-isue. The only issue is having enough pearl to sit deep enough in the pocket at all, at least hopefully .03" or more when it's leveled. If your pearl pieces stick up too high off the radius then you need to re-design your pattern to best suit the fretboard, or use thicker materials. If I feel uneasy about it, I look at my art, and make the necessary changes. Then take a piece of wax paper, lay it over the fretboard, and glue up the inlay against the curve. If your cuts are in the proper places everyting should stay tight, and follow along the curve. All the areas of the pearl will be flat relative to their positions. If your trying to make on big piece of abalam or solid pearl fit across a large radius then it's just not going to happen unless the material can be bent (plastics w/heat) your pattern edited, or you have thick enough materials to handle the radius. Best of luck. Craig L

Fender does their acoustic guitar logos with shell veneers. From a distance (say maybe 6 feet?) it looks like inlay. Up close it looks cheap. There is no flash, and little color shift to it. It's easy to use, you just cut it out with an exacto knife, and finish/build over it to level. If your looking for the ultimate cheap-fast-shell looking material this is it. If your goal is a high end look, you want real inlay. Craig L

It matters greatly if you want part of the inlay around either radiused edge to be black pearl, gold pearl, or any other color type of shell which will possibly, and quickly change color as you sand through it. Almosty always when doing inlays I need to make sure the colors stay part of the pattern as I originally chose them to be. If they do change, especially with things like Paua, Green abalone, and black pearl, especially brown lip pearl, your colors will change radically. It's a relative disaster when your blond mermaid turns out having white hair! Or your black areas turn white. Granted it's not a problem for the typical vine, letters, names, etc.. paua, green ab three color and shell type inlay, but for any type of artistic piece where your colors are chosen like paints on a canvass it means everything. There are ways of dealing with the radius to preserve color, and they are not difficult, you also have to choose your shell blanks wisely, and watch where you glue the pattern relative to the color depth of the pearl. C. Lavin www.handcraftinlay.com

It is a great idea. My first living sea guitar is done that way- http://www.handcraftinlay.com/livingsea.html I haven't done it yet with boxes, or with Walnut. In walnut the color may not turn up right. If I do get that comission I'll make sure to post it. Craig

Thanks Guys. Maiden I didn't do that with Walnut, but I have done it already on lighter maples. The body woods on this one are almost totally black, lake salvaged 5-A quilted maple for the front AND back. I also have a set of 5A pure flame Koa as well, for if in need. Basically the maple is naturally blackened. I was hoping there would be a way to keep it black and possibly highlight the lighter areas (what there is if it- it pretty dark wood) a golden yellow. I would think it's almost impossible. I want to keep the yellow black theme, based on the animals colors. The back is going to have a 300 or so piece leafy sea dragon, all jade, gold, brown, and black pearls. I still need to start the art for the headstock, etc.. I may go with the naturally black back and front, with an ebony- bright flame maple-ebony purfling border. That would brighten it up around the edges. You really need to see the woods. I have pics, but not on line. All ideas are welcome! Craig L

Hi Guys. I know there are a lot of new rules about images, etc.. So rather than mess anything up I am just giving a link to another excellent acoustic forum that is already running my images over at luthiersforumcom. They are another group of great guys, specializing in acoustics. All truly really good people. This is on an electric, my third installment of my Living Sea series. It's the single most intricate inlay I have ever done to date. It's only the fretboard, and it still needs more work yet. I am doing as well the headstock face, tuners, back of headstock, body back, and possibly the back of the neck. Please check it out! It's over 274 pieces, of just about everything except woods. Thanks for looking, any questions please let me know! I honestly hope I'm not breaking any rules. I don't even know what "hotlinking" is. I have seen some pretty sexy links, maybe some are "hot" I'm not here for business, only help and inspiration. Craig Lavin Here is the link: Thanks for looking! http://www.brockpoling.com/luthiersforum/f...D=562&PN=1#5224

Hi guys. There are some "cheap" inlay materials- plastics, etc.. but you'll still be paying at least $10.00 for a small sheet, maybe 6x6. Some woods are also less expensive, but of course using solely cheap materials will give cheap looking results. Pearl is going to cost you at least $20.00 or so an ounce anywhere in the world (at .05", maybe 5-6 pieces in an ounce) Thinner pearl blanks cost more than thicker ones, there is more in an ounce. Craig L

Sterling silver is relatively cheap, cuts and works much, much better, and polishes out almost exactly the same color as stainless steel. There's no sense in using steel, when there is silver. I cut it with a .03 to .06 blades, and use about a .06 thickness. I have used copper, brass, silver, and other metals in my inlays. Both alone and in conjunction with other materials. The most important thing is to not let it heat up too much during sanding, otherwise they will lift due to expansion, especially bezel type thickness. Go here to see more. www.handcraftinlay.com My 2 cents Craig Lavin

Hi Guys. Use real metals. You can buy sheet stock (.05" or any other) of any metal on the market, from gold to copper. Treat it like any other inlay material. It cuts with a jewler's saw. They are actually designed for cutting metals, not pearl. Craig Lavin

Looks great. You see that it's easier then it looks! Especially in ebony. I have an inlay heading for the scribe phase, it took weeks to get cut, and most likely hours to scribe as well. Pics soon maybe. Craig Lavin

The method you describe makes sense to me. I wasn't doing it that way. I leveled first and then filled gaps. This is the method described in a book I bought - Pearl Inlay by James Patterson. I'll try your method next and see what happens. Thanks. ← Filling before leveling is the only make-sense way to me. The only thing I do after leveling is pick out any bubbles that may have appened, then re-fill with glue and re-sand again, starting with 220. Then I engrave. Filling after leveling means having all the odd colored dust and debris in the gaps. Not all of it will come out when cleaning it. That makes NO sense. Craig

Hey Craig, Have you ever tried PCB board routing bits ? These are twin fluted plunge bits that go down below 0.8mm and can be had, if you can find a supplier, at a VERY reasonable cost....i've paid around the equivelent of around $7.50 Us for 10pcs and they cut clean and the larger one's, 1.2mm and above, are very robust. Jem. Thanks Jem. I'll do a search for them. Craig

Hello Frank. I could use some of the teeniest carbide bits you have. Can you contact me? Thanks clavin@handcraftinlay.com Craig L

1) Make sure your patterned-out line is as thin as possible. 2) Use a thicker (size-1) blade. It will not flex as much. Make sure your saw and blade are kept at 90 degrees. 3) Cut on the downstroke, holding the saw almost loosely, don't grip it tight. Hold it with your fingertips almost. Let the blade make the cut, don't force it. 4) Cut as much as possible. It takes practise, that's all. 5) Above all go slow, Take your time. There is no rushing in hand cut inlay. Best of luck. Craig Lavin www.handcraftinlay.com

That's all there is to it. How good your final inlay looks depends first and foremost on how good your drawings are. Filing is fine to make things a little better, but square drawing with thin lines is a better start. Then just file for roughness. Your getting there. The more complex my inlays get the more I keep having to remind myself of the basics. They just don't go away. The highest amount of time on my more complex inlays these days is spent staring and re-fixing potential problem areas. I have a very, very complex one now just sitting there glued up. I am going to map out the problems and list them out first, then tackle each one seperately before I scribe and rout. Craig

It bothers me enough. Rout and re-do. You already tried that once. You won't screw it up. Just re-sand carefully, watch the radius, and switch to a higher grit earlier than normal so you don't re-scratch the others beyond repair. Take your time. There is WAY to much figure in the other pieces for it to look consistant. Craig L

Your going to have to rout it out, then either re-inlay something over the old hole, or fill it with a "patch" wood inlay perfectly matching. That's the only way to do it save sanding it off completely level, and gluing on a new headsock veneer. Craig Lavin

That's the only way to do it. As you found out otherwise the glue dries out the dust, leaving you with a mess. With other woods I don't use filler at all. It's O.K with rosewood for a little area (rosewood dust), but for others I just take the time to route as perfectly as possible, down to a 1/32" bit. Craig Lavin

Very fine ebony dust and water thickness CA glue. Thats all I ever use. The thing is to make sure your dust is fine enough, and that the gap is fully filled before adding the glue. It will pull down on the dust, then you may need to add more after it dries. You want to make sure wood is at the surface, not just glue. Also- I don't polish out the fretboard to 600 or higher grit. I leave it at 320 or so. That will blend the glue in more. Anyting higher will only highlight the glue VS. the wood, by leaving the glue less shiny then the wood. The goal is a match. Craig Lavin

I have been using strictly sandpapers all the way, but would like to try the files until about maybe 220 grit level. What type do you guys use? I often have a lot of material sticking out of the board, and use 80 grit to get through that. It takes forever. Also I finish all grits with a flat block, not radiused. Many necks I work on change radius through the length. LGM is correct about stopping short at about 120 grit before heading onwards. Too deep a scratch and youll have to go lower than the board to get it out. I always make sure there is enough glue left to need to spend a little time at 220 before going onwards. Craig L