Luther Shorts #3: Making Shell Inlay Blanks

[@bandilla7317]

nice awesome creative

[@charlesplott7511]

I have a lot of abalone shells (self-collected) I also build guitars. I have long wanted to add abalone to my instruments. I much appreciate what you have shown here and how often you mention safety tips about the dust issues that have concerned me. Have great 2020!

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

Hey... thanks for you comment... have a great 2020 too!

[@lottiemichell7664]

Watching and thankyou have found paua shells been under the house for 25 years plus. Am enjoying learning how to bring the beauty out of these paua shells am from New Zealand

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

Thank you and good luck.

[@NickleJ]

When working with bone and other similarly dusty materials, l mix a little soap and water to use as lube/coolant. I find it help keep the sandpaper from clogging, keeps your material from burning, and greatly reduces the airborne dust. YMMV.

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

Great tip, thanks.

[@curlyhairdudeify]

Is there a reason that you don't cut the shell with the rotatory cutter under a shallow pool of water?

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

Just that i'm wearing a very good mask and have good dust extraction... you could use water but it might get messy and not so great for tools. And even if you used water, you probably should still wear a mask. I use the 3M 4251.

[@breg155]

Can you link that tool you used to saw through it, i cant find a way to look for it online

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

Its a Dremel tool with a cut off wheel attachment.

[@pranabendranarayanray1646]

I want to learn please 🙏

[@ashishrathod293]

Hey...I need a bit help!! Can you please show how do you mark flat blanks on shell before you cut it?? I have few shells but afraid of ruining it... please help

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

Do you mean what i use to mark? Or how i decide where to mark and cut? If the former i just use a sharpie. If the latter, it's a bit more instinctive. I choose a relatively flat and thick bit and not too big as the shell is curved so to get it flat you have to remove a lot of material, the more curved it is the more material you will loos flattening out both sides. Best to work with as small pieces as possible, but that depends of course on how big you need your blank.

[@ashishrathod293]

@@LeddingtonGuitars so basically size of blanks depends on size of shell and how curve is it...and thank you for explaining ☺️... I thought there would be some template or any method for choosing flat parts

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

@@ashishrathod293 Exactly... the more curved the shell is the more material you will loose flattening it out on the grinder. So smaller is better. But if you need a large blank for a large inlay, you have to compromise. To be perfectly honest this process is really only for special bits of shell you cant get in blank form. There are plenty of suppliers who sell pre-made flat blanks.

[@ashishrathod293]

@@LeddingtonGuitars yes, pre-made blanks are available online like stewmac but here in india we dont get pre-made blanks locally, its not quite popular here. Although I went to Goa(place in india) where i accidentally came accross a shop who sells shell for really cheap (approx-2$ USD) per shell which is roughly around 6 inch in length...so its quite reasonably cheap

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

@@ashishrathod293 Very cool. Good luck... i hope i was of help.

[@shaylee2b]

Can anyone give me a hint on how to grind/sand down the abalone inlays in my Dean Evo fretboard. The abalone is a bout .001 to high. I can fell the abalone when I play the guitar. Feels like a slightly ruff surface on the fretboard.. And there may also be some gaps around the inlay too. This was a used guitar I bought. There was not problem with a similar guitar that I bought of the same brand and inlays

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

Hi Stanley... this is a common occurrence when the wood shrinks due to either being to wet to begin with or having dried out due to not being nourished regularly with oil... i suggest you try oiling the fingerboard first and then if they are still too high after a few days you can sand them flush to the fingerboard with a small metal file. Check out my website www.leddingtonguitars.com for details on care and maintenance and for oil that i offer. Drop me a line there if you need any more help... happy to guide you through it all.

[@jimmascaro2456]

I found 35 abalone shells under an old clawfoot tub on a jobsite! Ive cleaned them & want to do as you have. I read a few questions about grit of sandpaper on your belt sander. Do you stop at 80? Im just wondering how to get the smoothest polishing possible. Maybe even buffing after sanding. Any suggestions? May I send you some shells as payment? I certainly wont use 35.

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

I stop at 80 on the grinder but then i inlay the pieces into guitars which are sanded up to 240 before being lacquered. If you are not inlaying and just making jewellery for example, you should just keep going up the grits till you are happy. If you want them shiny then go 80-120-240-400-800-1000-2000 then use some kind of buffing compound.

[@rinocarrasco5669]

Where do you buy your shells?

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

From all over the place... ebay, flea markets... try knofe makers fairs too.

[@raerk59000]

very useful! i need to try this ^^

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

Do it.. its fun.

[@NoahFielder]

What grit sandpaper do you use?

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

On the belt sander? 80g.

[@wi54725]

What did you do with the blister pearls in those shells?

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

I still have them...

[@michaelwhisman]

Cutting it by hand will reduce the dust.

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

It sure will, but speed is nice and masks work.

[@kolhapurpearlfarmingmotiki6948]

Where I buy this cutting machine in india

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

I think you mean the Dremel.

[@paulselman9672]

Turn up the sound!!

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

Sounds fine here mate.

[@amitjaiswal1218]

Thanks you so much, Can you provide me abalone? I want to get mother of pearls from it...

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

Sorry no... i don't have stock. Also i believe abalone is now listed with CITES meaning its potentially illegal to trade internationally.

[@amitjaiswal1218]

@@LeddingtonGuitars Hello, can you plz tell me how can we take out mother of pearl layer from shell or mussels. Which machine and technique we can use for it...

[@LeddingtonGuitars]

@@amitjaiswal1218 I'm not sure totally understand... but the video contains all my techniques for processing shell to use as inlay or jewellery etc.