Re-cycleing Kiwi ashtrays (Full Shell to Inlay Blanks)

Got a new way of doing something? Or maybe an old method that needs some clarification.

Moderators: kiwigeo, Jeremy D

Post Reply
User avatar
DarwinStrings
Blackwood
Posts: 1877
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:27 pm
Location: Darwin

Re-cycleing Kiwi ashtrays (Full Shell to Inlay Blanks)

Post by DarwinStrings » Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:57 pm

A bit more on re-cycleing. I don't really advise this as a better or cheaper way of getting your inlay material. The truth is, is that it is time consuming. However I make instruments because I love to make things and starting with the basics is very satisfying for me.

Pic 1. Your average Kiwi ashtray ( choosen for this inlay because of its mainly purple colour)

Pic 2. Small pieced cut out on a cheap Ryobi, wet tile cutter.

Pic 3. A cheap method to flatten one side of the pieces also using water to avoid breathing the dust.

Pic 4. Mounted on a piece of aliminium with double sided tape so it can be fed into the saw blade useing the fence to thickness it to, in this case 1.5mm.

Pic 5. About one hours work

Pic 6. The piece still mounted to the aluminium after running it past the blade.

Image
Image

Jim

Don't smoke.......(Yul Brynner)

User avatar
DarwinStrings
Blackwood
Posts: 1877
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:27 pm
Location: Darwin

Post by DarwinStrings » Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:00 pm

The peices I cut yesterday now epoxied into the neck as fret markers and rough sanded.

Image
Image

Jim

Hesh1956
Blackwood
Posts: 1420
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:58 am

Post by Hesh1956 » Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:29 pm

That looks great Jim!!!! :cl :cl :cl :cl :cl

User avatar
Stephen Kinnaird
Blackwood
Posts: 287
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:45 pm
Location: Texas, USA

Post by Stephen Kinnaird » Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:39 pm

Jim, looks great up here in Texas.
I like your design.

Steve
There are some great woods, down under!

User avatar
Kim
Admin
Posts: 4376
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2007 8:32 pm
Location: South of Perth WA

Post by Kim » Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:14 pm

Great looking shell and great looking design Jim unique, stylish and tasteful.

Well Done 8)

Kim

User avatar
Lillian
Blackwood
Posts: 1705
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2007 10:31 pm
Location: New Mexico, USA
Contact:

Post by Lillian » Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:16 pm

Thanks for the tutorial. You make it look way easy. I like your design. Might have to steal that. Thanks for sharing.

Runn3r
Myrtle
Posts: 58
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:08 am

Post by Runn3r » Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:20 pm

lovely work Jim!

User avatar
hilo_kawika
Blackwood
Posts: 144
Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2008 10:29 am
Location: Hilo, Hawaii
Contact:

Post by hilo_kawika » Wed Jan 28, 2009 6:28 am

Very clean and imaginative. Great work, Jim.

aloha,

Dave Hurd
www.ukuleles.com
How to become a millionaire? Start with $2 million and become a luthier...

User avatar
DarwinStrings
Blackwood
Posts: 1877
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:27 pm
Location: Darwin

Post by DarwinStrings » Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:00 am

Thanks for the positive feedback you mob.

Lillian, no need to steal, you are welcome to use my designs provided you don't mind swelling my head to a point where I can't get through my shed door to make more guitars.

Anyone is welcome to use my designs for personal use but as a practicing artist I do claim artists copyright and expect payment to be negotiated before any of my work is used for a commercial purpose :D.

The purple heart in the inlay has been fresh sanded in that pic and is now a much brighter purple as it has had some time to oxidize.

Jim

User avatar
Lillian
Blackwood
Posts: 1705
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2007 10:31 pm
Location: New Mexico, USA
Contact:

Post by Lillian » Wed Jan 28, 2009 2:33 pm

Thank you Jim. When I get brave enough to try inlaying, I'll be doing some thing like yours. Hope I don't butcher it too badly. If I don't I won't credit it to your work.

User avatar
kiwigeo
Admin
Posts: 10582
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 5:57 pm
Location: Adelaide, Sth Australia

Post by kiwigeo » Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:04 pm

Im ashamed to be a Kiwi when I see those bldi ash trays....same goes for plastic tiki salad servers. :?

Glad to see the things being chopped up and made into something much nicer.

User avatar
Taffy Evans
Blackwood
Posts: 994
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:54 pm
Location: Charters Towers North Queensland

Post by Taffy Evans » Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:43 pm

Nice one Jim, your right about the work involved, all my inlys have come from the pearl or aboloni [Iknow] shells. I once did a whole set of block inlays, Gibson LP style, cut myself from the shell, you dont get much from one shell.
I just walked from the shop after photographing my inlay process, I post it later.
Nice work Jim, I dont smoke but I think I'll ask for ashtrys for my birthday anyway.
Taff

User avatar
Lillian
Blackwood
Posts: 1705
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2007 10:31 pm
Location: New Mexico, USA
Contact:

Post by Lillian » Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:55 am

Its odd the things you remember. My maternal grandparents lived in New York while we lived in Virginia. It was a major deal to go see them, so we only went at Christmas. Seeing the ashtray sparked dodgy old memories that haven't come to the surface in forever. My grandparents had a shell ashtray that I just loved, well right up until they started using it. It was beautiful and strange and colorful, especially to a 4 year old. I knew that it had to come from a place that was just as beautiful and exotic as it was and one day if I was really good, I'd get to see where it came from myself. It may have taken more years than I had expected, but I will get to see where that beautiful shell came from and realize just how right I was all those years ago.

I'm sorry it's an embarrassment Martin, and one day I might understand why it is, but for now, all I see is the beauty of one of Nature's gifts.

User avatar
DarwinStrings
Blackwood
Posts: 1877
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:27 pm
Location: Darwin

Post by DarwinStrings » Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:26 am

I did some work work on the recycled Kiwi ashtray. One day it will be a guitar I promise.

In pic one you can see the pendant motor attatchment in it's housing (home made) it is a collet type and I use down cut bits, You can also see that I inlay the wood (purple heart) that is to take the shell first. I photo copy the design many times stick it on with spray adhesive then cut out the shapes. For the large wooden pieces I just hold them in place by hand on the workpiece and trace around them with a sharp pencil then cut the pocket.

I then glue the photo copy on to the workpiece to cut the smaller pockets for the shell and also glue it onto the shell to cut the shapes from the shell.

Image


In pic two (left) you can see I've mixed epoxy and dyed it with aniline dye then started to place the shell in the pocketsas well as the last piece of purple heart. Then (center) after its all in place I wipe it clean with gum turps, you can still see the photo copied pattern stuck to the shell. Finally (right) the whole thing is leveled and sanded.

Image


Pic three the combination of headstock and fret board

Image

Jim

User avatar
Dennis Leahy
Blackwood
Posts: 872
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 12:32 am
Location: Duluth, MN, US
Contact:

Post by Dennis Leahy » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:41 am

Outstanding work! And, very cool!

Maori influenced, I suppose?

Dennis
Another damn Yank!

User avatar
Nick
Blackwood
Posts: 3641
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:20 am
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Contact:

Post by Nick » Wed Apr 01, 2009 5:41 am

Nice work Jim, great design & great execution.I don't usually like alot of Paua shell but your's is just enough to be tasteful. Call me mr Thicko!! but I never thought to mix aniline dies with the epoxy to match colours :oops: So thanks for that little Tip :cl
I'm with Martin on this one, good to see the beauty of the shell instead one placed in every room of the house & of full of Mum & Dad's ciggy ashes.
And Dennis I would say it's more Hawaian/polynesian influence?
"Jesus Loves You."
Nice to hear in church but not in a Mexican prison.

User avatar
Allen
Blackwood
Posts: 5252
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:39 pm
Location: Cairns, Australia
Contact:

Post by Allen » Wed Apr 01, 2009 6:33 am

Did you find that the dye wanted to leach into the lighter headstock wood, or have you sealed it with shellac first.

I've used black to stain epoxy before and I did find it did creep into some light endgrain a bit. But I hadn't of thought about it, and hadn't sealed with shellac.
Allen R. McFarlen
https://www.brguitars.com
Facebook
Cairns, Australia

User avatar
sebastiaan56
Blackwood
Posts: 1279
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2007 5:23 am
Location: Blue Mountains

Post by sebastiaan56 » Wed Apr 01, 2009 7:14 am

Very cool Jim, what kind of axe? a Telecasterish animal perhaps?
make mine fifths........

User avatar
DarwinStrings
Blackwood
Posts: 1877
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:27 pm
Location: Darwin

Post by DarwinStrings » Wed Apr 01, 2009 9:58 am

Cheers guys.

I guess anything I design is influenced by everything I've seen, to narrow it down though i suppose tattoos would be the closest so Polynesian maybe.

No shellac Allen, the dye seems to be contained by the epoxy and also the maple so fine grained that it doesn't seem to get in enough to worry about.

This one will be a Bulletish beasty Sebastiaan with three noiseless alnico pickups.

Jim

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests