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This is to answer Foggy's, Mitch's, and Corsa's question - how do you do that. If you go to my web-site, I have progress pictures as the piece was being made in the Special Projects section. Shark Inlay However, the quick answer is the frame and the rob are recon stone. The violinist is MOP, Sparkle MOP, Sparkle Red Ab., and Gold MOP. The violin is Walnut and Palo Escrito. There are actually two wood bases being used, an ebony one to hold the violinist and a rosewood one to join the stone frame to the main design. I used rosewood just because it was handy and cheaper than another piece of ebony. After everything was glue up, I etched the details in the hands, face, and rob. Lastly, for the hair effect, I dry brush painted over the top of the Sparkle MOP in order to give the hair definition. You can see it in the picture, but the MOP still shimmers though the paint lines. Very cool effect that I just got seem to capture in a photo. The piece is going under the bridge of a Garcia Tribute guitar. Sort of like the tiger that Garcia had on one of his guitars. The guitar builder is just going it inset the oval. Pretty simple job for him, but not for me.

Just finished it today. Needed to show somebody.

I don't know. I sort of like it the way it is. If there was a separate inlay section there wouldn't be many posts. I could post a new project every week if I wanted, but I think that would get anoxious pretty quick. I only post a project when it's really a fun, or unique one. Otherwise I just look around to see if I can help other people with a quick answer or two. My vote is to leave it as it is. Beside, I like reading about finishing and see guitar projects. This way I only have to look in one place.

Do you have pictures. I'm not sure I know what you're speaking of.

That's cool. I really like the body shape.

Very nice. I really like the headstock.

I can't imagine being able to get the kind of accuracy you need with that sort of tool.

It's going to show pretty much no matter what you do. A really dark stain will help though. This is want I would do. 1) Buy a head stock plate of the same type of wood. 2) Cut pieces just bigger than the holes and sand them back to the hole size working them until they fit as tight as possible with as little gapping as possible. Try to match the grain pattern of the wood in that area. 3) Glue a thin, flat piece of wood inside the control cavity over the holes as a base to hold the pugs solid. This will stop the pugs from sinking later and messing up your finish. 4) Use a good epoxy to cement them in. 5) Sanding it to the contour and hope for the best. If you do a good job with this, and use a dark color, it might look pretty good.

Well I personally like the teeth in one direction 02 blades. But since I haven't tried that many different types, not sure if that is the best. I just tried some until I found something I like that then stuck with them for good.

Way to go. Glad it work out.

Oh come on. With how much work it take to make a guitar, you're going to fret (no pun intended) other this? Please. Drill it out, fill the bottom of the hole to the right depth, test fit the new dot to make sure you don't do this again, and finish the job right. What is it doing to take, five minutes. Don't cut corners or you will be sorry you did. Even if know one else can see it, it will always bug you knowing it's not right.

What Jim said. The stuff I use is call FriskIt and is available at any good art supply shop. It's about $35 bucks a roll, but that is like a life time supply unless you do large guitar body inlays like I do. If you are using a rub on stain and you have glued in your inlay with epoxy (not superglue), then you don't have to mask at all. Just stain and wipe it off the shell. If you superglued it, it has be my experience that small gaps can be left and the stain can get in under the glue and discolor the inlay. Also, if you are using a light colored ablam materials like agora the stain can get in under the shave lines and cause minor discoloration. In this case, when you are rubbing on the stain, just be careful not to get to much on the shell and wipe for the stain on the shell right away. If you are using a spray on stain, FriskIt is the way to go. This stuff is sort of like the stuff that is on the cell phone faces when you first buy them. Good luck with the project

Awesome. Good luck with it. Post pics when you're done.

I use 20 minute epoxy from super glue corp. pretty much exclusively now. Best stuff I have ever used, but hard to find. Very solid bonding and filling and colors well with sawdust. Highly recommended.

Thanks Ok good, now I know how to help you. The first problem you are going to have is getting pieces of MOP big enough for 2" strips. SOOOO ... I would just suggest making thin vertical stripes that are two inches tall. You may want to use MOP abalam. In tall, thin stripes that should look pretty good and you can get that in sheets for 9-1/2"x5-1/4". You can get big pieces out of that. Second possible problem, is your guitar body carved? (e.g. like a Les Paul) If so, the 2" pieces would be a big problem when you had to inlay them over the curves of the body. Flat pieces vs. curved body, that will be a problem. You may have to make the rings from smaller pieces so you can contour them over the curves like I did with the sun rays. Feel free to ask any other questions you want. PS, be prepaid to spend a lot of time getting this right. This sun was a pain.

This would be may favorite, but it depends on the application. A picture would help.

You mean something like this?

That does sound steep. Who have you been talking to? Email me at cliff@sharkinlay.com and we can talk about it.

Yes, they are copyrighted. I personal wouldn't tough them.

Yes, exactly. You are suppose to have any ivory you use documented by a licensed reseller. Whether someone would come after you for a few guitars you make is questionable, but if they did the fines are bad and jail time is possible. How much do you have? How many guitar would it make? I use Mamoth ivory myself and I keep documentation on all of it. Old ivory though is GREAT stuff. Naturally yellowed. Beautiful. You can cut, sand and glue it just like any other material you use. But, it doesn't smell that good.

Hi, Cliff from Shark Inlay here. Just thought I'd chime in with my 2 cents for whatever that's worth. My personal rule is that I want to refret the guitar if the inlay go below the 12th fret (13-22). The reason why is different than others listed here. For me it about getting the inlay flat and the radius correct without any chance for damaging the frets. Once the frets get too close together it becomes hard to do. You end up with a "U" effect on the fretboard as if the guitar is slightly scalopped. This wouldn't be too much of a problem if you where doing dots (as mentioned eariler). The dots are small and well away from the frets. Plus, if you use the correct depth in the first place, you probably wouldn't have much leveling to do anyway. I have done many complex inlays that span frets with the frets in place, but only above the 12th. This too takes a lot of caution, but nowhere near as much at below the 12th. Therefore, my question would be, what are you planning on inlaying?

Cool. Good luck with the project. Share some pics when your done. I'd like to see it.

Ah, I see. Well then, how about Corian? The comes in all sorts of colors and you can probably drum up a good size sample from a counter top maker for next to nothing. Just a thought. Trying to be helpful.

Looks like Corian. I'm a little unsure why anyone would you this. Are you trying to avoid cutting the shapes out of the material? You're still going to have to route the holes, and that would probably leave some pretty jagged shapes unless your a master with a router. If your worried about cutting the shapes, get someone like me to cut them for you. Then you can inlay them yourself if you want. Otherwise, look into recon stone. Much more realistic looking patterns and colors. Just my 2 cents, for whatever that's worth, which probably isn't much.

I wouldn't use a softwood inlay on a fretboard. That will not ware properly and will cause problems down the line. Trouble all the way around. Just my opinion.