Official Luthiers Forum!

After 1 month my black an white markers never showed up from china . Do you have a good source that is reasonably priced ??? thank you!

Stew Mac has 1/16" and 3/32" in black and white....

My reasonably-priced source for dots is rescuepearl.com. Cost for MOP or abalone 1.5 mm is $18.35 per 100 plus shipping. Shipping charges are reasonable.

I find the prices at Rescue Pearl pretty good, comparing well to the better suppliers from Asia. I haven't had great results with the really cheap suppliers from there.

I think Rescue Pearl has been recommended here before. The products are predictable in terms of quality, and JoAnn provides good customer service.

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Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."

+1 for Rescue pearl, I bought a bunch of odds and ends from them at the VIGF, reasonably priced and decent quality.

B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

If you have the room, use the 2mm MOP rather than the 1.5mm. 2mm is a lot easier for the player to see if they are the kind of player who needs them. Stay away from abalone dots. They disappear against dark backgrounds or in dim light. I sell MOP and Paua dots, but Rescue Pearl sells them cheaper and they get nothing but great reviews.--Bob

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

Thanks bob, For those DIY on a budget , if you have a leather punch . you can make your own dots by laminating either 3 white or black veneer, and then Knocking them out on a sheet of paper. Keep a thin dowel handy. Mine does 2 an 2.5mm. For those ordering from china . i went through a lot of hassle . I called my local PO and gave them the chinese tracking number, I called several times. Then I drove to the PO, an waited they cannot track down chinese routing numbers through the us postal system, So even though it says the packet is at our local PO no one can find it. Will call rescue pearl. TNX everyone

Here's a method John Hall taught me - uses the same drill bit you use to drill the holes, so an exact fit

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/49990029572/in/album-72157678301955987/

Click right and left, text below

Ed

Nice pic of the stauffer ?? style neck !!

I've mentioned using a fuller countersink to make fret marker dot inlay. They can also be used for side dots with the appropriate size countersink. The counter sink is turned around on the end of the drill bit so a recess is formed the drill bit would normally fill. when chucked into a drill press It can be used to make dots. Here are some I made from the plastic edgebanding I cut down for binding, and some I made from a scrap of Corian. I also cut some from shell and ivory piano key tops some time ago (requires a new sharp countersink). If you set the depth stop right you can make the plastic dots almost ,but not quite cut through the back, which allows them to stay in place until you press them out by hand. You can also scrape or sand the back to release them. A third method is to drill all the way through and push them out of the countersink. The corian dots are just popped loose with a chisel or screw driver. Again, another method would be to saw them loose with a tablesaw or bandsaw. I'm sure many other materials could be used to make dot inlays in a similar fashion.

Update I did finally get my 1.5mm plastic dowels from china . It seems the packet wound up in NY 1500 mi away, even though the tracking said itwas here at our local PO last thurs july30 ? > I also ordered the 2 mm paua and MOP from rescue pearl. The owner said a huge shipment was 1 mo overdue from LA. I also have a mag issue lost as well . Who knows whats going on with usps. whatever it is , its hurting small biz like ours. I had to wait for 6 wks for a radius cutter from L/N and am still waiting 2 mo now for 2 , 24 in sanding discs but that is because their biz had to shut down. Oh well !