Official Luthiers Forum!

Cool enough to make me do a vine,
first one in 12 years! And I am considering doing others..

But seriously, I had someone ask for an Ibanez Jem vine in abalone going into pau ferro, and took some zip flex home from ASIA from Kevin..

This stuff is fantastic. If it made this vine center this easy (under 20 minutes to inlay fully by hand) then I can only imagine how much faster it makes everything else it was actually geared for to do.


ASIA was a blast. Great to meet Joe, john, Rex, so many people, so much fun, so little time.
can't wait for 2011!

Craig Lavin

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Great meeting you, Craig - enjoyed your presentation on the creative process - gave me a lot to think about.

I got some and used 1 for rosette but see lot of use. Great stuff and will be doing a 40's style something guitar with it soon for a guy. Craig as usual great inlay and art.

Aw, Craig! A vine??? Say it ain't so!!! Just kidding! It's a terrific vine just as all your work is terrific! I'll be in touch soon regarding fretting the clownfish guitar!

Peace,

Larry

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Looks great Craig! Maybe the zipflex would work well for some sea weed too? Isn't it cool to come home with some new ideas and materials? I can't wait for 2011 ASIA as well!

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jw ( o)===:::

Thanks guys,
Not really what you would call original art, but it's what the customer wanted.

Man I miss ASIA already. How many places can you jam with all those luthiers and talents until 4 am?

Joe it was great meeting you but it was even better seeing that orange burst in mikes guitar.. wow.

Larry good luck fretting, call me if you need to, Stan thanks, and Corky it was great meeting you as well.


Is it 2011 yet?
Craig

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Man Craig, that is cool use of the zip flex! I had such a great time at ASIA! I really enjoyed your presentation and had so much fun jammin' the nights away! You are one multi-talented guy and a real gentleman.

I woke up Monday morning with ASIA withdrawals!

Rex Ellsworth (trex)

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Rex Ellsworth
55069 1st Ave
Elkhart, IN 46516
574-596-6949

Rex, it was a highlight meeting you and jamming all night long! need to do it again at the next one.

Thanks for the kind words!

Craig

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www.handcraftinlay.com

I`m getting ready to use some zip-flex and I was wondering if I should get it as flush as I can with the wood or leave it a hair proud and sand it down?
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

Any time you are inlaying solid pearl or abalam or any material for that matter, it's best to always try to keep it as deeply inset as possible, taking as little off the top as possible. The benefits are many-

Deeper color retention of synthetics (thickness- color sometimes) means less seeing the back or through translucent materials.
Better surface pattern retention on pearl
Less sanding time
Less sanding mess
Less sandpaper wasted
Stronger bond in the pocket, due to more surface area of the adhesive area of the inlaid materials sides.

Some of these are minimal or slight things, but they surely all add up.
I inset mine about 70% deep and thought it still retained pretty good color. Regular abalam has it's best shell colors only 20 thousands thick up top, so you want to inset it as flush as possible and sand little if any off.
Of course a "hair proud" is better then too low.. but just a hair..

Good luck.

Craig L

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www.handcraftinlay.com