# Abalone or shell casting



## coreyg089 (Jan 5, 2016)

Im looking for more info on casting shells. I found you can buy veneers thats are around 9x5in and .005 thick which I cant imagine is structurally sound. However they say its flexible. Does anyone have shell casting videos or more info, cause im done paying 20 to 60 dollars a blank. 

Thanks CG
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CMGcustoms?ref=hdr_shop_menu


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## Hawkdave (Jan 6, 2016)

Hi CG...

Check out the link below to see if it gets close to what you require.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f13/paua-abalone-jr-aaron-fountain-pen-137661/index2.html

There are three video links, so scroll down the page to see them all.

Dave


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## Charlie69 (Jan 6, 2016)

I recently took interest in making an Abalone inlay blank for a kitless rollerball pen.   So while on vacation in Florida last week I stopped in at Mudhole (the makers of the 1st video) and checked out their Abalone inlays.   The main problem with their heat and roll method is that there is a very noticeable seem and the measurement of the inlay and cut has to be dead nuts accurate to avoid any gap or overlay.   That being said if a person is ok with one seem, rather than a whole bunch of seems which seems to be the method that the commercial makers of the Abalone blanks are using, and good with cuts then that might be the easiest way to go. 

I'm gonna cut the Abalone in thin strips and glue it to either  an acrylic or alumilite blank (turned round) then cast it with resin.  I played around with it a little last night and the 1 st problem I encountered is getting the strips to line up perfectly straight.   Also the veneer is brittle so moving it around a lot tends to crack it.   Anyways, I'm gonna work on it some more tonight and see how it goes.


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## coreyg089 (Jan 6, 2016)

thank you for the replies. Ive looked at the veneer but like you said there will be a seam however it might not look bad if you have multiple seams like the manufactured versions. I might buy some and try it its not that expensive to experiment. Charlie69 Im interested in seeing how your blanks turn out. Thanks for the info Hawkdave.


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