Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey, I wanted to make a headstock logo with that mother of pearl material, not dissimilar to gibson or epiphone headstocks.

But I couldn't find much about it online, except some websites selling pre cut fretboard inlays.

Where can I get like a blank sheet of that material? and can I just send it for laser cutting?

Thanks

I have heard that MOP is too reflective to laser cut.

Lutherie supply houses sell Mother of Pearl blanks for making inlay. Try StewMac, the Duke of Pearl (both of which are forum sponsors at the top of the page) or Andy DePaul. I have cut my own pearl using a jeweler's saw but it is very tedious. Andy will custom cut your designs and is very reasonable, particularly if you want several pieces of a standard design. I think when it is done on a cnc its not laser cut but small high speed bits.

Edit to add, if you go to the Duke of Pearl website there is a long discussion about laser cutting of pearl and abalam.


https://dukeofpearl.com/shells-and-mother-of-pearl/#4