It's time to learn how to cut shell and inlay. I had bought some mop and abalone shell pieces from Andy dePaule a while back, and finally got to it tonight. I set up the cutting jig (stewmac) and drew two simple shapes on some tracing paper. I then glued the tracing paper onto mop blanks, using white glue and let them dry for half an hour. Cutting the shell is more enjoyable than I had thought. I like the way the shell reacts to the blade and the cutting was pretty smooth in general. Of course, as expected, I broke a piece of the first design, when cornering too hard. A piece of the shell flew across the room with a 'ping' sound. I also broke a blade on my first piece. No surprise there either. It's expected in the early stages of learning, from what I've read. The second piece went much better. I switched to a finer blade and was able to complete it with both the shell and the blade intact. I put the cut shell under hot water and removed the paper.
The shell dust though is a little bothersome, as it's not good to breath. I used a dust mask and cleaned the area afterwards, but I'm looking for a better place, and set up, for controlling the shell dust. The other thing to consider is getting a head-band magnifier. I'm sure I can get my cuts to be more precise under magnification.
Next time I plan on touching up the cut shell with some files and routing a cavity for it.
2 comments:
Is there anything you can use instead of a jigsaw? I don't have access to one.
I did not use an electric jig saw. What I used (and is the most common way) was a small fret saw or a jeweler's saw like this one http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for:_Inlay/Pearl_Cutting_Saw.html?actn=100101&xst=3&xsr=1928. You need the super fine blades in order to be able to navigate complex shapes and tight turns. Good luck
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