best way to work with mother of pearl?

Michael J. Spangler

Michael J. Spangler

Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
2,181
i need some info on working with mother of pearl? waht drill bits? what grits on the belts? speeds to grind at and drill at etc. bought some exhibition stuff at the NY show.... now i'm working backwards and doing my reasearch. thanks guys
 
What the heck are you doing with MOP? Jeaz, now I gotta try and keep up with you, too!
:D ;) :D
 
I guess I am still stuck in the stone age. I am just starting to carve some acient ivory I got from Dave Larsen. MOP would be exciting, but I can not offer any direction. No, I didn't live here when those hairy elephants roamed here.
 
When working with MOP make sure you wear a rspirator, it can do nasty things to your lungs. As far as belts and such use fresh belts, but not too aggressive, maybe 220 otherwise the pearl can fracture on the edges when being profiled. To polish it go through the normal range of belts that you wold use to polish wood, start with 220 up to 400 and then buff. When drilling holes it is a good idea to make sure you back up the pearl so the drill dosen't break through and fracture it, wood works well. I also put a few drops of water on the spot where I am going to drill to help remove material and keep the drill from getting hot.
Chuck
 
No, I didn't live here when those hairy elephants roamed here
Click to expand...
John, John, John you where born the day after Dirt.:eek: :eek: :p
J. You should of seen HammerHead at the NY show he was sniff'g around the tables with MOP like a dog looking for a place to P.
:D He did make a very good choice and price.
 
when working mother of pearl.........learn to hold your tongue right,....and new drill bits and new belts are a small price to pay for nice clean cuts.....use mineral spirits for a cutting fluid....good luck.......greg
 
J. If he makes another sinker he is out of here.:mad: :eek: :p :D
Got to take a pic of the sinker and post it.
 
got a little plan..... damascus blade (ladder pattern) with some file work along the spine of the handle thennickel silver sheet over the handles.... then the nickel silver bolsters and rear bolsters (proper term?) the MOP with really fine pins probably 1/6 inch.... gonna take my mentors advice and take my time. this one will be for the sweetheart no mistakes alowed
 
thanks for the info gentlemen... so chuck 400 grit is far enough before the buffing? what about ceramic belts? and as far as the cutting speed of the drill? keep it the same as i would with metal? thinking of going witha brand new drill bit. any specifics on that that work well? or maybe use and end mill?
 
Sounds like a nice plan there Mike. It's my understanding from a couple other makers that they use a new drill bit for each hole put into MOP. It seems excessive but, that's the way they do it. If it's a general size (like 1/8") the bits are cheap at least. Keep us posted. Can't wait to see what you come up with.
 
I usually hand sand up to 400 grit then buff with the following compounds-dark grey, light grey, white then no scratch pink. If you move the pearl in the light you can see if you missed any scratches. I love working with pearl, it finishes nicely and won't move with heat or moisture like ivory or wood. Just take your time, measure twice and cut once. New drill bits are not a must but they do help. You can also use a center drill to start the hole so your drill won't walk.
Chuck
 
Always cool to try new things....

I recently tried MOP as well. Was scared to death to touch it to the grinder. I got some info from this forum as well as from the Mother Of Pearl company (don't have the website link right here..) The MOP works quite easily, but gets hot VERY quickly. Seems to be an excellent insulator, therefore you may not know it's getting hot from the rest of the piece. Don't hold it on the belts for too long or it may overheat and crack.

Like noted here already, use fresh belts, fresh bits and work it slowly, like any other fast heating material. I used the slowest speed on my simple five speed $50 drill press and had good results. It finishes by hand very well.

The respirator is a MUST.

Have fun...

Dan
 
will do J. tomorrow i'm going to Wolf's house to research some blade styles and do some planning. gonna take a lot of planning and a whole lot of love to make it come out right... might just keep it
 
I don't know how you guys go from 400 grit to the buff. In 7 years of knife making I have never been able to do that but I know other makers seem to make it work. I always end up hand sanding everything up to 2000 grit and then to the buff.
 
Arthur,
I was just meant to take the pearl to 400 grit. The polishing compounds I use do the rest of the work. Does the 2000 grit actually remove any scratches? Or does it build up so fast that it dosen't cut anything at all? For me it was like sanding with printer paper, just twice as expensive.
As for steel, Devin thomas reccomends that you take your blade finishes up to 400 grit with a new belt or by hand to get the best etch with his steel combinations. I have mirror polished his steel, satin finished and finished up to 400 grit and his reccomendations came out the best. His reccomendations are on his website.
 
Striper,

The 2000 grit does remove scratchs but you have to do the hand sanding with progressive grits 400, 600, 800, 1000 then 2000. I hand sand the entire knife as a unit but even if I did things seperately I still cant get a smooth finish on pearl at 400 grit then to the buff. The pearl polishes but you still see the scratch lines from the 400 grit paper as a nice polished scratch.

I have used Devins steel almost exclusively since I started making knives but that may have something to do with me having worked for him for 5 years 2 of which I was production manager of the shop. He does recommend exactly what you said but sometimes you have to work out of the box to get the finish you are looking for. I routinely take blades to 2000 grit and then etch but it is not for everyone. It took me a while to figure out how to make this finish work.
 
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