Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello,
I am trying to figure out the best way to cut my own abalone (not ablam) for a rosette. I may have just found a use for my old crappy bandsaw! I've watched a couple video tutorials etc. but everyone is cutting Ablam. I got a bunch of gorgeous solid Red, black, green, gold and white MOP/abalone from Taiwan at a pretty good clip. However being a traditionalist can suck. I didn't realize how difficult this stuff is to work with.

Will my old 10" junker work with a 24 tpi metal cutting 1/16" wide and thin kerf blade work? (I don't want to buy a blade unless I know for sure that it will work)

I also have a scroll saw that could work with the right blade, this is probably the cheapest option. It would also give me something to do while in MD, since the scroll saw is here and the rest of the shop is in NY.

Or do I need something more like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Proxxon-37172-MBS-115-E-Micro-Band-Saw-/330489206727?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf2b117c7

Or is there a better solution????

thanks in advance,
Joey

Also I should mention that I eventually would like to use the Proxxon wet bandsaw (when I have the money for it) because I think it's the safest way to avoid exposing the lungs to the dust, which is apparently pretty nasty stuff.

In the meantime though, I would like a cheaper solution.

The cheepest way to get your blanks is to take a hammer to the shell to break it up into smaller pieces. I use my scrool saw though. Then you have to lap them flat. I use a lapidary wet sanding wheel to avoid any dust. I usually lap them to 1/16" thick for inlaying.

Oh I am not that much of a traditionalist. HAHAHA. I suppose I misspoke. I have solid blanks that are already flat and mostly uniform. I am simply concerned with shaping/cutting them into rosettes/purflings/etc. Once inlaid I planned on hitting the shell with a hand sander and fine paper. Will that be an issue?

You mentioned that you use a scroll saw, what type of blade have you found works best?

thanks,
Joey

Some people use a jewelers saw with fine tooth blades and for a highly portable, go anywhere setup that would be my choice. For rosette circles I've used a router and a small dental burr bit. Sand the bevel angle between segments, glue them around the circle , then rout.

Hi Joey, Just about any fine tooth blade will work. They do burn up faster with shell though. I have also used a bandsaw, but they can be more dangerous when cutting up small stuff without a zero clearance insert.I just cut a slit in a piece if plywood and clamp it to the table and cut on that for the base to avoid getting the blade jammed from the small pearl pieces.You don't want a piece of pearl going between the blade and table and getting jammed pulling your fingers into the blade.

I'm assuming that is a straight edge carbide like this yeah?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Carbide-Burs-FG-Midwest-Type-556-BUR-2221-IDS-DENTAL-/170254894952?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27a3fb8768

Also did you need some kind of an adapter for that or did you find one that fits your router? I'd prefer a better source than Ebay, but they are pretty cheap. It's just that they look too small to fit my router. Maybe it's just because I've never had to tighten it down that far to use anything that small?

Hey Todd, I remember reading something like that in the book, unfortunately my copy of Cumpiano's book is in the shop in NY, and I am here on Fort Meade. Ironically the reason for that is because the previous time I went to New York to work in the shop, I was in a rush to beat the Beltway traffic on my way to 83 and forgot the friggin' book. So now it lives there to avoid a repeat in the future.

Also I was kind of hoping to build a jig of some sort and build a bunch of rosettes while I am here in MD to take to NY in a couple weeks when I go to see the family for the holidays and get some work done. About my only tool here is a scroll saw because that's all I have room for. I am not against doing them by hand, but the last one I did didn't come out very well and required a lot of time only to end up being scrapped.

My goal is to develop a time efficient yet cost effective method that works with my space constraints here in MD yet does not take an enormous amount of time. I am starting the prerequisites for my masters degree this January and hoping to get into a pretty demanding program shortly after I finish those. And while time is important, I don't like the idea of that zipflex stuff or ablam for some reason, just me I suppose.

Make yourself the ablam cutting jig that Chris Polluc (spelling) has a video tutorial for. It can be used to cut real shell as well. Get yourself a very high quality North dust mask, take that little saw outside and go to it. I do it with a 32 tooth blade but a 24 works as well. You may want to take your shop vac outside as well and clean out your saw when done then clean the shopvac all with your dust mask on when done or better if you have a shopvac with a bag throw it out. You will not be able to control the dust in a small saw like that inside your shop.

_________________
http://goatrockukulele.com

Chuck Erikson did an article recently on the hazards (and lack thereof) of working with shell. There's been quite a bit of overreaction, reminiscent of the same with CA and acetone, about the risks and perceived 'toxicity'. Anyhow, make your own informed decisions but he's allowed the article to be freely distributed:

_________________
Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

that was a great read, a lot of which I had been wondering about since I work in public health/Industrial hygiene/environmental health engineering and had never heard of the perils of working with shell previously, so thanks a lot for posting that article. Good stuff.

Chris P. did a great video on this.
He used an interesring jig to cut semi circular pieces with, I think,
a bandsaw.

I believe the dental burrs are carbide. They are cylindrical and have a spiral- knurled pattern to the cutter. They fit an 1/8 inch collet atapter sold by Stewart Macdonald or directly into a dremel collet. I also use them to cut saddle slots in bridges and binding channels for rosettes. The sizes I have cut about 3/32 and 1/16 inch slots.
I am in the north eastern corner of Maryland on the Sussquehanna. The weather here is still moderately good for working outdoors, so I would suggest doing that for sanding and routing the shell, to keep your head out of the dust. Once your tooling is setup you should be able to make a simple segmented ring in about a 1/2 hour

I use a scroll saw with a spiral bit to rough cut shell rosettes and then I clean up the piece on a drill press. Here's my method.

http://johnjayplatko.com/buildingasteelguitar9.aspx

John

Thank you, John!

thank you for posting this, I think it's the simple/cheap solution I was hoping for.

Chris paulick's method is similar to John's but all done on the bandsaw with a thin blade and his specially designed jig plus a simple method to cut the miters. He uses his to cut abalam but I think it would also work for solid shell.
Why not check out his video for the rosette cutting jig in the tutorial section?

Bill S.

_________________
Dream to be a luthier

Yes it will cut solid shell and wood. Solid shell will get the blade hotter faster and being it's just 1/16" you have to watch it as if it binds it will easily break. When cutting the small blanks of shell I'll glue the blanks to some thin pieces of wood with titebond. I've cut curved pieces that are .030" wide with it for rosettes. This shows some of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNb37nxMW4I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbS-J8ePg60
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKU8YO-3MqQ