Official Luthiers Forum!

Im going to be inlaying some red abalone heart into a flamed maple blank. Sould I seal with schallac first? To keep the ca from soaking into the end grain. Im thinking I should..

Your thoughts?

Tkx
LanceKLanceK38368.8647222222

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Yep and concentrate on having an EXACT cavity fit. The lighter the wood the more easily the cavity and gaps show up. There isn't any filler, that I have found, that will disguise it either.

_________________
tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Lance,
Tim's advice, like always, is right on. I did a beautiful black MOP inlay on a maple headstock and didnt get as tight a fit and no matter what I tried it just didn't look right. Others said "oh it looks Beautiful" but to me it was firewood. I actually wound up removing the headstock plate and re-doing the whole thing...think Natt's arse tight...that's how it's got to be.

_________________
Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

Something else I have seen and I kind of like the effect of is the cavity being ever so slightly but uniformly larger than the pearl or ab pieces, so that there is a space between the piece and the cavity walls all the way around the inlay.

The fill material is dark, black, dark brown, etc. Then it has an effect of being ringed in a dark material. That can look kind of cool.

I saw a mahogany neck with that effect done with pearl. It was really cool. It was almost like the whole thing had been outlined.

So if you wander off your line, that may be a "fix". It still takes some careful routing though.

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com