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is Mother-of-Pearl acceptable for inlay?

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As for pissing up a rope and standing under it, is this how you guys take showers in the Southern Rockies?
It's a method reserved for "people" who offer unneccessary sarcastic answers rather than intelligent and to the point ones.......
 
I don't recall ever seeing a Mother of Pearl anything engraved. It might be possible with the high speed cutters( circular saws) that are made for cutting glass, but Mother of Pearl is layered, in sheets, and I would be very worried about de-lamination during any kind of attempt at engraving. I would want to test the cutter on MICA, another layered mineral , before attempting anything on expensive Mother of Pearl. A laser cutter might be the better tool to use to engrave this substance. Lasers are being used a lot to cut fine checkering on grips and stocks.
 
LaBonte said:
As for pissing up a rope and standing under it, is this how you guys take showers in the Southern Rockies?
It's a method reserved for "people" who offer unneccessary sarcastic answers rather than intelligent and to the point ones.......

Like telling other people to piss up a rope and stand under it? Would that count as an unnecessary sarcastic answer rather than an intelligent and to the point one? :wink:
 
Guys, let's stop p***ing on each other and get back to the point. The gentleman asked a genuine question, and he (and I) have gotten some undeserved ridicule for it. All in good fun, I'm sure, but...

Now, I have seen MoP SAA grips carved into steer heads, etc. but the engraving was usually not too detailed and rather worn - it probably wore quickly.

I think doing the fish in silver or brass would be a good bet, either on the wrist or on the cheekpiece. That being said, it's up to him. If it comes out looking like something from the reign of Louis XIV or XV, that's great, as long as the rest of the fowler suits.
 
Mother of pearl is brittle and fragile and not suited to engraving. It can be carved and polished, but that does nothing to change its nature. At least one company recommends that the MOP grips be removed and replaced with wood or some other material when firing the gun to prevent cracking the MOP grips. Saturday night specials often used to come with MOP grips....
 
Here's one example of MOP use I rather like, but they're just polished inlays

FL5.jpg
 
Damn, you guys are brutal. I am not a thread counter, so I am sure that my comment will fall on deaf ears, but I think that is kind of a neat doodad that he wants to inlet. As I recall in his post, he asked how difficult it would be to engrave that design on a piece of silver - you guys are all beating the mother of pearl bit to death.

I don't engrave, so I can't answer his question, but I can't imagine that it would be that difficult to replicate in a piece of silver. The griffin face would be a neat alternative to a hunter's star.
 
Some of us have beaten the mother of pearl issue to death.
Enough said about it.

As for reproducing that design on a piece of Sterling Silver, it would be different, that's for sure.

Nothing wrong with having something different as long as it isn't being presented as something that is "the way it used to be done".

Engraving is an art form which requires a great deal of skill as well as knowledge.
By this I mean anyone can hold a pencil and make lines on a piece of paper but it takes a artist to use that pencil to make a good drawing.

Anyone wanting to try engraving should buy a few gravers and a little hammer and a whole bunch of brass sheet. Give it a try and find out what is really envolved. If your good at it, then think about making engraved Sterling Silver inlays.
If your not good at it, be glad you used something cheap like brass to practice on.
 
It depends on what the inlay is for. For pure decoration MoP was used extensively. Look at fire arms of the middle east, the gaudier the better. I have thousands of old buttons, about 25% are MoP. Out of that 25% about thirty are decorated. I don't believe they are engraved per se, more like ground or abraded. Shell can be etched , covered with wax , design scratched through the wax, then acid applied. Remove the wax and you are left with design cut into the surface of the shell. Abalone was used alot in the NW by the NA's , also in the SW by Hopi, Pueblo, ect. To each his own, I would look into a little more research before using it, to make sure it fits into the scheme of things. I do think that design would work in silver, it would be easier to engrave, easy to cut out with a jewelers saw, and safer to work with health wise. Just my to cents, up late and rattling on. As a side note , There are a few opininated knotheads everywhere in life, just choose to ignore them and life becomes a little more pleasant. :blah:
 
Cosmoline said:
Here's one example of MOP use I rather like, but they're just polished inlays

FL5.jpg
Probably north African. I've seen many of these, can't say they float my boat. :haha:
 
I don't know squat about engraving, but these look engraved, scratched, scrimmed or something... Late 18th C. MOP Chinese gaming pieces. Still don't think I'd want one on a rifle.

mop-4.jpg


mop-9.jpg
 
wildeagle said:
It depends on what the inlay is for. For pure decoration MoP was used extensively. Look at fire arms of the middle east, the gaudier the better. I have thousands of old buttons, about 25% are MoP. Out of that 25% about thirty are decorated. I don't believe they are engraved per se, more like ground or abraded. Shell can be etched , covered with wax , design scratched through the wax, then acid applied. Remove the wax and you are left with design cut into the surface of the shell. Abalone was used alot in the NW by the NA's , also in the SW by Hopi, Pueblo, ect. To each his own, I would look into a little more research before using it, to make sure it fits into the scheme of things. I do think that design would work in silver, it would be easier to engrave, easy to cut out with a jewelers saw, and safer to work with health wise. Just my to cents, up late and rattling on. As a side note , There are a few opininated knotheads everywhere in life, just choose to ignore them and life becomes a little more pleasant. :blah:

Hi, Wildeagle! After calling knowledgeable folks opinionated knotheads, you might have added that nowhere in your essay did you show that mother of pearl was used on English fowlers or American fowlers or any fowlers. And that was the original poster's question. He then asked about making the design in silver. Truthfully it does not belong on a true fowler. He would be better off perhaps, if he just has to add something shiny to his gun, to go with a traditional thumbpiece. This would be correct and would not spoil the gun.

Now I realise that as a knowledgeable button collector, you know way more than I regarding MOP and I pray that remains the case. You are right about the middle Eastern guns--they did like MOP, but many preferred coral--and yes, they were gaudy. And tacky. and usually crude. An early version of a pimp's special, maybe. But they have absolutely no bearing on the topic of fowlers and MOP. Any more than buttons do. So, basically you were taking a swipe at people who have obviously studied these guns far more thoroughly than you ever have. And letting us know about your love of buttons and Mother of Pearl. Wouldn't most of your charming and information filled post have been more suited to another part of the forum--clothing perhaps? I won't keep you any longer as I'm sure you have buttons to count and a jezail or two to fondle.
 
Mike Brooks said:
Cosmoline said:
Here's one example of MOP use I rather like, but they're just polished inlays

FL5.jpg
Probably north African. I've seen many of these, can't say they float my boat. :haha:

I think he was pulling our leg on this one, Mike. I mean, there is no way he could have been serious. Right? Mike? :rotf:
 
I prefer the ones covered in red coral.
:wink:
 
Me too. Then it's even harder to see the crudely made junker hiding under it! :rotf:

Actually, some of the North African rifles with the long barrels and ivory butt plates are pretty nice. They don't have the coral or mother of pearl, just long graceful lines that go on forever and usually a flared butt. Six foot barrels. Oddly, they seem to have been used by horsemen. I can't recall who made them, maybe Berbers or Tuaregs or Moroccans. Do you know the ones I mean?
 
No I do like it, at least on the right firearms. I've got books full of photos of MOP-inlayed flintlocks from the courts of Europe, so I'm not the only pimp out there!
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dect/ho_1972.223.htm

I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate sequins into my stock right now :grin:
 
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