Obviously, you shouldn't breathe dust of any type, but I have never
heard of mother of pearl being toxic. Abalone shell however is toxic.
I've done inlay work on guitars with both and have never had problems
nor has anyone I have known who did this type of work. Keep in mind
that we were only working with flat sheet cut to shape and polished. I
did know a guy who almost died trying to grind abalone from raw
shells. He later found out that this procedure is normally done under
water.

Here is a URL for a site on working mother of pearl.

http://www.pearlgifts.bizland.com/working_tips.html

Cheers,

Kelley

On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 02:39:20 GMT, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:



"Rhbuxton" wrote in message
...
Hi All,
Does anyone have any experience working with mother of pearl? I would
like to
fashion some pocket knife handles out of it but have no idea how to work
it.
Can it be sawn, filed, sanded, or buffed? Can it be drilled with high
speed
steel twist drill bits? It appears to be brittle, is it? What questions
do I
not know enough to ask!
TIA
Rick

It's brittle. It's often worked with jeweler's saws and abrasive sticks.
I've used abrasive cloth and paper wrapped around wooden popsicle sticks,
etc.

Watch out for the dust. It's highly toxic. Wear a tight-fitting dust mask
when you work it.

I find it miserable to work, but jewelers who do a lot of it probably are
more comfortable with the stuff.