Official Luthiers Forum!

Are there anyone outside of the US who can CNC cut inlay pieces out of abalone shell?

I might have a commission that involves inlaying chinese characters and I'd like to see if I can at least have pre-cut pieces because the idea of doing chinese characters scare me...

Must be outside of the US so I don't have to deal with stupid rules...

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

http://www.luthiersupply.com/ They used to be a sponsor, do great work at good prices and ship from Vietnam

A fellow I worked with at the Larrivee shop for a decade or so just bought a small CNC. Very adept programmer as well. Probably has a chest full of AB leftovers too. If you choose, I can connect you...

Does it have to be outside the US?
Andy Birko could do it, I'm sure. Birkonium CNC Services
http://www.birkonium.com/

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Andy DePaule or Brian England

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

Luthier Supply or DePaule is not CNC. It's all hand cut, which is why I get my inlays from them. They are very, very good. Been dealing with Andy and Buddy for years.

Tai needs to find someone who's not shipping from the U.S. I've had to turn away a significant amount of business from outside of U.S. customers because of the crippling paperwork and fees required for a one time deal like that.

I traded e-mails Chuck Erikson and basically what it boils down to is that to do it legally, you need to pay about $200 for the one time export license and take a trip to your fish and wildlife office (which for me is about an hour+ drive one way) to get the goods inspected. That makes the cost of exporting shell prohibitively expensive.

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

I need someone who doesn't have to follow the stupid rules, so US based ones are out.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Andy is in Viet Nam. Email Buddy or Sam and make an appt to call Andy. I'm pretty sure they can do something for you. Worth an email anyway...

Try Martin at Australian Mother of Pearl. http://www.mopsupplies.com/

Man, that's a bummer.

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Old growth, shmold growth!