Official Luthiers Forum!

I want to try a pearl purfling on the sound board of my current project. Stew Mac has a laminate called "Abalam". Has anyone used this? I've done some inlay work before and think I'm up for it. I plan on getting the no stick filler strip. I seem to remember reading some where that the pearl strips are broke into short peices to make the curves, but that doesn't sound right to me. Do you guys have any suggestions?Dave Rickard39098.4453819444

_________________
Say what you do, Do what you say.

Dave, I have used the abalam for purfs before and recommend the filler strips as well. I just glued everything up with the filler strips in place and when dry (next day) I yanked out the fillers and started poking the abalam in the slot. I used all straight strips and broke them to fit the curves as I went.

Using an old butter knife or a small hardwood block make it a little easier to push the abalam into the slots as you go.

_________________
Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Thanks Dave, and Dave, I'm getting ready to top one with pearl. I'm using the "other" pearl, so a comparision of how it goes would be of interest. I'll let you know how mine turns out too. Bruce

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Good topic--when you break the pieces to curve, how do you ensure the correct angle as as to not leave gaps???

The broken ablam pearl doesn't leave a gap. It sort of breaks at different points in the layers so there is no visible gap. The only gaps will be at the ends of the pieces, and you can use a file or sanding stick to make those match up.

Hi Dave,
I have used the filler strips to create a channel for the pearl, but I shaped
each piece to fit the inner and outer curves, squared off the ends with a
sanding block and butted each piece to the next.

I now glue in the inner strip (like B/W/B purfling) and shape each piece of
pearl to fit against it, leaving the outer curve rough cut and slightly
oversize. I carefully butt each piece to the next. Once all the pearl pieces
are glued in I run my binding router jig (Williams-type) around to true up
the outer curve of the pearl.

You can use either Ablam or solid shell, but in this application the Ablam
tends to give a more consistent color/look over such a large area.

This is just what works for me.
Craig S.

If memory serves, be careful when you are sanding the Ablam. Sanding too much can change the look if you sand too deeply. I think that the shiny part is not very thick.

_________________
"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Dave, I do it like Dave Rector says. Abalam is a breeze and you can use all straight strips, unless you have a horrible gap between pieces you won't see the breaks.

_________________
Matt Jacobs

"Don't tase me bro"

Dave--what everyone else said. When I first tried this, I was told that the pearl is "self-mitering". Just break it, they said, and it'll all work out fine. My carpentry brain couldn't get around that concept, so I just had to try it. And you know, "they" were right. Well, for the most part.
On gentle curves, the breaks will be all but invisible. On more severe curves, you can try breaking the piece, and if the gap is too great, a little file work makes it all right. But with black purfling (of some sort) either side of the pearl, and with super glue binding the whole sandwich together, it's amazing how fluid those individual pieces end up looking.
Once you try it, you'll see how easy it is.

Good luck,

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

I and a couple students did our firsts a coupel years back with just straight pieces - I now recommend to use a 70/30 split of straight and radiused (soundhole arc is fine) ot do the job - its a must to have some curved on tighter cutaways, and it helps greatly on the upper bout and waist area.

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Dave...I've used both products. While the Abalam is slightly easier to install, Steve is correct about excess sanding. Having used the real stuff it has a significantly richer look IMO. Whichever way you go it will look great!

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

I prefer the look of solid shell as well.

The most time consuming part of the job, I found, was matching the pieces up to begin with. On my first, I just grabbed the next piece in the pile and slapped it in, and that's what it looked like in the end. I thought that doing it at random would maximise the 'sparkle', as there would be a lot of difference between adjascent pieces. You get a lot of sparkle, alright, but you also see all the joints, and it looks haphazard.

These days I dump all the strips out on the bench top, and put a few strips of double stick tape on a piece of plywood. I pick up one strip of shell, and try to find the one that matches best with it at one end. I mark the left hand ends of those two strips with a 'Sharpie', and stick the first one in the upper left corner of the double stick tape. Then I find the best match for the right hand end of the second strip, and, when found, mark it and 'archive' the second one. Keep marking and sticking until you've got a bit more than enough strips laid out to do the whole edge. It's really handy to have more strips on hand than you're going to need; some of them will be nearly impossible to match. Those will be useful next time, of course. As you put them in you go in the same order. You really have to spend some time at this: the pieces will look different in different lights and different angles, and is can be tough sometimes to get a close match. Once in a while I've gone back a few strips and started over to get around a dead end. In the end, the 'sparkle quotient' is the same, it just flows better.

Ablam does change appearance if you sand it too deeply, and you can lose the match easily. This is less of a problem with solid shell of most sorts, IMO.

real mop

Thanks for all your input. Before I order, who do you all consider to be the best source for pearl?

_________________
Say what you do, Do what you say.

Andy DePaul has the best that I've seen.

_________________
Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Dave, I've been pleased with Andy as well.
He'll color-match for you if asked politely!

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Andy is a great guy and I always recommend him. Don't call him if you are looking for abalam though, he doesn't carry anything but the real stuff.

_________________
Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

I've been happy with the products and service I've gotten from Rescue Pearl.

Dave,

All great info in this post.
As for abalam, It's personal choice. If it's under a finish, abalam can be terrific. Abalam is real shell, just in .003- .005 inch veneer feathers pressed / glued together.
There are many posts on the pros- cons of abalam vs. solid shell.

I often use a small spoon to break the shell as it's fed into the channel, and wick a bit of cyano in every few inches, making sure not to over do the glue!

With the abalam, sometimes the veneer will separate horizontally when you break it, so you need to watch out for missing pieces in the slot prior to glue up. (Solid shell can also fracture, sometimes called shaling, which is just separation of shell sections on natural "fault lines" , usually at a 45 degree angle from the flat surface!)

Alan brings up a crucial point: matching the shell.
I clear the bench when doing this and lay out the shell with a good light souce on it.
If using "solid shell", I use a shallow pan filled with water, and put all the blanks in it, checking both sides and orientation for best color and refraction.
This allows the best match as you work around the borders.
Sometimes, I'll just use accelerator, or zip kick, to spray the shell to quickly check color without dealing with the water method.

I too will sometimes file segments, depending on the length of the piece and fit, particularly on tighter curves.
The nice thing about using abalones is the changing color allows slight gaps to fill in with glue and appear as a subtle color shift. A mother of pearl border would require filing and fitting of every piece as it's not so forgiving.

Another "trick" I use sometimes is to use a permanent marker to line the bottom and sides of the strips with the predominant shell color,(I typically use either blue or red).
I would test this on scrap first to be sure the color doesn't bleed into the surrounding surface when glue is applied.

I'll try and post some photo examples once the OLF web site is repaired.

Suppliers:

I use several, including MOP supplies in Australia,
Duke of Pearl, ( whom supplies rescue pearl), and Andy DePaule.
Some may have minimum $ rates, so check each as necessary!
Good luck!
Paul

_________________
Paul Bordeaux
http://www.bordeauxinlay.com

Real shell and straight pieces is what I use. Even on a tight curve you can get decent results.

_________________
Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Peter, once again, she's just sooo gorgeous!