[Jewelry making - Article 01313] - Re: [Orchid] Carving MOP

[John Donivan]

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Hi Tracy.

    First off, unless you are in the South Pacific, you do have shells,
    but they are not MOP. MOP is a creamy white to brownish shell usually
    about a foot or more in diameter that grows in the South Pacific. All
    MOP are shells, but not all shells are MOP. Just labels and truth in
    advertising. There are two main issues in cutting shells. One is
    easy, and that's that they put out voluminous quantities of dust when
    they are sawn and ground. Abalone shell is poisonous, which was
    discussed here and nobody really knows why, but it is. The others are
    not poisononous, but the dust is still a major issue. The second
    thing is that shells are just on the edge of lapidary in that they
    just can be worked with steel tools, but only just. The best way to
    cut them is with a lapidary saw and then wet grind them, as in
    lapidary, which also takes care of the dust. They can also be cut
    with a steel saw, like a jeweler's saw, and ground and sanded like
    wood. Be aware that they will load up a standard carborundum wheel
    almost immediately if done dry. Plus there's the dust. They polish
    quite well after sanding with something like tripoli and Zam or such.
    I used to do a lot of Dennis Edaakie type stuff - saw out a scene in
    MOP and then inlay it. I'd use the lapidary equipment to saw the
    rough and grind to shape, and then a standard jeweler's saw and lots
    of blades to pierce the inlay. If you want to pick up a few shells
    and just do some few things with them, you can do pretty ok by
    pretending it's wood and working it accordingly. Use a fine blade on
    a hacksaw for rough sawing, or a jeweler's saw, maybe a stationary
    belt sander, stuff like that. More than that and you'll want a
    diamond saw and stuff. Just watch the dust - it's like talcum powder
    and there's lots of it. 

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com
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