Abalone & Mother of Pearl on top

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Posted by Roderick on August 24, 2003

Has anybody done an MDO painted sign using abalone or mop on the surface.I have a MDO sign I'm working on with a dark green b/g.I layed some mop on it and it looked pretty cool.I will have to paint the back as it is translusent(silver maybe) but I don't know how it will hold up.

Roderick

Ron Percell

I use lafranc to size the Abalone to aluminum foil, then pb bonded the piece into a trough cut into MDO. Afterwards I applied 3 thick/heavy coats of frogjuice. The previous steps may not have been required due to the frogjuice locking the abalone into position

I'll try to dig up a picture of it to post.

Robare M. Novou

I have been using clear GE silicone II. I have adhered vertical glass to vertical glass with it, no problems, it hasn't fallen yet, been 6 months, I first tryed that damar/varnish mixture,the piece keep sliding down,even after a week of being taped up.
The guide on the tube gives its highest rating to the adhesion of glass, ceramic tile, porcelin, formica, metal, plastic, wood, fiberglass. Its also very paintable. Drys within 24 hours.

D. Bernhardt

This is one of those I've wondered about also. Painting the back or gilding it would be a definite...also wonder about the epoxy. It's very brittle and rather than letting go of the pieces it's likely to break them. Something more flexible like silicone. Used it several years ago to adhere some marbles into a carved wood sign. From what little I've heard it must be doing the job.

Kent Smith

Yes it can be done much like the inlays done on guitars and banjos. The silicone is a better idea on MDO because of the variations in outdoor temperatures. I have used common aluminum foil adhered to the shell on the back to make it brighter and enhance the colors. The adhere the whole works to the surface. Inlaying would also help it to stay in place better, just cut in the depth of the overlay I would think.

Billy Bob

I've a friend who is a crafts making fellow, and he made a metal fancy purse that he covered in (1" squares of) mother of pearl. It looks awesome! He may have adhered the shell w. epoxy. I don't know, but that would probably work.

This would be cool on a letterhead project, but I MHO, it would be overkill on a sign.