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I saw this stuff that was just crushed Pearl I think…
I’d never use it for a fretboard or anything . But I was wondering if I had my signature CNC on a headstock would it work? Does it come out looking janky?
B


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It will look like chalk. The reflective nacre will be almost gone.

The red and green on the head are crushed synthetic opal flooded with CA.

M

From my own experience, crushed pearl if it is crushed too far does what Barry suggests. Maybe a semi-crushed state is the way to go. I have many containers of scrap pearl that I'd love to put to good use. Michael's inlay gives me hope.

Dave

I’ve done one headstock inlay with MOP flakes….

It came out OK-ish?

Edit - found another one.


It’s not as nice as solid, but wasn’t a bad effect.

If you’re having the pocket cut on CNC why not cut the shell for the inlay at the same time?


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Yea I suppose a sheet of abalam would do it


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For oriental lacquered furniture they use thinly cut shell, glue it to the surface and build up the black lacquer around it. I think the material is pretty much all nacre, so if it was "crushed" in the sense of broken into small pieces, rather than pulverized it might retain it's luster.
Ebay has a listing for some that is .1mm thick : https://www.ebay.com/itm/234625762124?h ... R46s28rFYQ

I also found some metal dust .., not sure about it. Grizzly sells it


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Check out mica powders at craft stores or amazon. Lots of colors available. I've gotten it (in a gold sparkle) at a bead/jewelry making store. I Mixed it in clear epoxy and used it like inlay. A synthetic Turquoise stone looked great.

I use Pearl Ex and CA glue