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

"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.

--
Ed Huntress
(remove "3" from email address for email reply)

In article ,
says...


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.


What he said, except wear a respirator- powered if possible. Lots of
shop filtration and ventilation, downdraft table with micron size
exhaust filtration is better than a plain bench. I've done a fair bit of
if for inlay and decorative pieces and will not work it without some
serious respiratory protection.

It also has a nasty burnt-hair smell when working it.

On 27 Oct 2003 02:22:16 GMT, ANSPAM (Rhbuxton) wrote:

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!
-------------
In Polynesia, artists use tungsten carbide burrs and high-speed
handsets (30,000 - 60,000 rpm) to carve it, and diamond disks to cut
it.

We were given a bunch of shell when we were in pearling areas. My
wife has played with it and, while you can cut it with a jeweler's
saw, the blades don't last long. A Dremel and diamond-coated steel
disks work great. It's very brittle.

Polish the usual way; coarse stones down to rouge for the final
polishing.

Kevin

Develop Windows(tm) Applications - in COBOL!
http://www.ScreenIO.com

If you can work it wet, you'll be much happier as the dust is caustic.
I drill Abalone buttons and have a fountain pump directing a flow of
water over the drill.
On 27 Oct 2003 02:22:16 GMT, ANSPAM (Rhbuxton) wrote:

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

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

Can you point to some data to support this?






"Ed Huntress" wrote in message t...
"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.

"Cuezilla" wrote in message
om...
Quote
"Watch out for the dust. It's highly toxic. Wear a tight-fitting dust mask
when you work it."

Can you point to some data to support this?

Nope. 'Just repeating what I've read in several accounts of jewelry-making
over the years. When I bought some for inlays around 20 years ago, the
shipment contained a very scary letter describing the same caution.

Ed Huntress

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.

"Kelley Mascher" wrote in message
...

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.


From an arts safety website put up by the City of Tucson Environmental
Management Division (?? I can't certify their accuracy):

"Fine shell dust irritating; mother of pearl dust causes fevers,
pneumonia-like disease."

--
Ed Huntress

Thanks for the great replys and the web site. I now have a much better idea as
to how to go about it.
Thanks again,
Rick

That is an old tale that is often repeated. I have even seen in
print. MOP is made of around 85% calcium carbonate, (Same stuff in a
Rolaids), 12% conchiolin,(A protien that acts as a binder) and 3%
water, none of which are harmful or poisonous. You should not inhale
any kind of dust in large amounts if you can help it, but the use of
the term toxic creates images of having to ware protective clothing to
be near the stuff, you could eat it if you like. It is often mixed
into women's cosmetics. The stories seemed to have gotten started
around the turn of the last century. People who worked with shells
became sick and many even died. That was due to the bacteria contained
in the unclean shells that were often many days old and being a once
living thing now was seething with toxic bacteria. The toxins
responsible for most shellfish poisonings are water-soluble, heat and
acid-stable, and are not even inactivated by ordinary cooking methods.
It is not surprising many of these people became sick. The clean MOP
though is in no way toxic. I guess someone could have an allergic
reaction but that would be unique to them. Simple precautions such as
you would use with any dust is all that is needed. The body inhales
pounds of foreign particles each year and in most all cases it just
leaves with the next breath and the remainder is removed with mucus.
If breathing in particles was such a danger, you could not ware a
cotton shirt, bake a pie using flour or play with the kids on the
floor. We are a pretty tough animal.




"Ed Huntress" wrote in message et...
"Cuezilla" wrote in message
om...
Quote
"Watch out for the dust. It's highly toxic. Wear a tight-fitting dust mask
when you work it."

Can you point to some data to support this?

Nope. 'Just repeating what I've read in several accounts of jewelry-making
over the years. When I bought some for inlays around 20 years ago, the
shipment contained a very scary letter describing the same caution.

Ed Huntress

Thanks for debunking an obvious bit of folk mythology. People eat all
kinds of really gross stuff and they would b worried about a little
calcium dust? Wear a dust mask and for sure do not drive a car.

(Cuezilla) writes:

That is an old tale that is often repeated. I have even seen in
print. MOP is made of around 85% calcium carbonate, (Same stuff in a
Rolaids), 12% conchiolin,(A protien that acts as a binder) and 3%
water, none of which are harmful or poisonous.

(rest deleted)

OK, not poisonous like rat poison or cyanide, but dangerous to work with
nonetheless. Consider the dust that flakes off this stuff: look at it
under a microscope, and you'll see little jagged spicules. Once they're
in your lungs, they don't ever dissolve, or break down and get carried
away - they just sit there and get scar tissue built up around them.
Think asbestos from abalone.

The bottom line: don't breathe the dust. It's bad juju.

MOP and abalone shell get used a lot in lutherie, the art of instrument
building. There are a bunch of lutherie sites with info on the dangers of
MOP and how to contain them.

Alden

--
Alden F.M. Hackmann
Web: http://www.hurdygurdy.com/hg/hghome.html
"Beati illi qui in circulum circumeunt, fient enim magnae rotae."

Alden Hackmann wrote in message ...
(Cuezilla) writes:

look at it
under a microscope, and you'll see little jagged spicules.

Spicules!?!
Have you been reading Heikki Seppa?

Paul K. Dickman

In article , Alden Hackmann says...

The bottom line: don't breathe the dust. It's bad juju.

Although, honestly this is good advice in general.
Any process that generates finely divided airborn
powder of *any* kind, metalic, non-metalic, organic,
whatever, is something to think twice about.

Jim

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