Inlay?

[Diane Kauffmds]

I've worked with Australian gem grade opal for 15+ years. I never throw anything away, so I have a large amount of material I've been saving for inlay art. I'll be using this for fret markers and headstock inlay design.

How thick should I make the fingerboard fret markers and how thick should I make the inlay for the headstock? I ask this because I'm not constrained by the innate thickness of abalone and mother of pearl, so I can make it as thin or thick as I want.

Thank you.

[B. Howard]

Typical inlay materials are 0.050"-0.060' thick. The only time I may wish for something thicker is large inlays on tight radius boards, things like sharkfins and large blocks, as they tend to get quite thin at the edges on boards less that 16" R. You really don't want anything much thicker on top borders and rosettes as you would not leave enough under the inlay but for position marks and headstocks I guess you could go as thick as you want. But remember that is more cutting....More materials to cut for the inlay and more to cut out to put it in. It could be tough on end-mills trying to cut pockets 0.100" deep in Ebony.

[Diane Kauffmds]

Typical inlay materials are 0.050"-0.060' thick. The only time I may wish for something thicker is large inlays on tight radius boards, things like sharkfins and large blocks, as they tend to get quite thin at the edges on boards less that 16" R. You really don't want anything much thicker on top borders and rosettes as you would not leave enough under the inlay but for position marks and headstocks I guess you could go as thick as you want. But remember that is more cutting....More materials to cut for the inlay and more to cut out to put it in. It could be tough on end-mills trying to cut pockets 0.100" deep in Ebony.

Thank you!

[Alan Carruth]

It's pretty common to back up thin inlays of transparent or translucent materials with something reflective. Silver is often used in jewelry, but aluminum foil would work as well, and would not tarnish. You could experiment to see whether crinkled or flat would work better.

[B. Howard]

It's pretty common to back up thin inlays of transparent or translucent materials with something reflective. Silver is often used in jewelry, but aluminum foil would work as well, and would not tarnish. You could experiment to see whether crinkled or flat would work better.

I was playing with Silver leaf like that the other year....couldn't quite get a look I liked.