Mother of Pearl

[Majorjoel]

A local rock shop went out of business last year. Sad news as it had been around for over 70 years. A sign of the times for sure. Anyway, I picked up a quantity of precut oval shapes in various sizes of mother of pearl material. I have read here that when working with it, "to be careful and wear a good mask to protect from dust". This, if and when I use it, I will do for sure. I was thinking about inletting some as barrel pin escusions along the forestock of a rifle I'm currently working on. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts or ideas pertaining to the use of mother of pearl, pro's & cons, as an option for the stuff we put on our longrifle builds?  Thanks as always for your experienced input here!  Joel

[bob in the woods]

If used around the barrel pins, I would pretty much expect them to chip, crack etc. I've seen abalone inlays on Pacific N.W.later pieces,but other wise I'd stick to brass, silver etc.

[Ben I. Voss]

If you wanted to use it around the barrel pins, you could put a short piece of brass tube on each side for the pins to go through, maybe?

[J. Talbert]

I've never used the stuff, but barrel pin escutcheons seems like it would be the most precarious place to use it.  Driving pins in and out sounds like a good way the break or chip it.

Jeff

[Ben I. Voss]

It's been a while, but someone posted either here or on the Risers Blog, a set of rifles they made that were copies of a late styled rifle (Ohio, Indiana?) that had a lot of pearl inlay. Maybe someone remembers and can direct you to those pics for ideas.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Back in a prior life I did a fair bit of abalone shell jewelry etc.... it chips easily.... If I were to use it on a rifle ............I would put in some protected place as an inlay........pretty fancy stuff Dude!!  I think Ben's suggestion about the brass tube for the pin or key could work.

[Acer Saccharum]

Major, I have a Rockshop in my neck of the woods going out....

In Upstate NY. Owner was a NYS geologist, wrote several books. Knows where all the fossils are in NYS. One of them is sitting right here.

[smart dog]

Hi Joel,

Mother of pearl is an exquisitely beautiful material when inlayed on a gun in a tasteful manner.  It has a moonlight kind of glow that is fascinating to look at.  However, it is difficult to work.  You should wear a mask if you grind or sand it and it is brittle.  A key point, is that you must make the inlet clean and a perfect fit because you cannot tap MOP in place like a metal inlay.  It must go in with finger pressure only.  The bottom of the inlet must be flat so there are no bumps over which the MOP can crack when pressed.  MOP makes beautiful barrel pin escutcheons but not on a gun intended for hard use and where the barrel will be removed often for cleaning.  As the other posters mentioned, it is brittle and could chip around the pin hole unless pins are carefully tapped in or removed. Another tip is that when drilling holes through it, you cannot use a centerpunch and bits tend to slide over the surface.  Instead, mark your hole gently with the point of a scribe and then take a small pointed diamond bit for a Dremel tool and twirl it between your fingers to grind in a shallow hole.  Then use that hole to start your drill.  Always use a small drill first and then enlargen the hole gradually.  The photos below show an early 17th century gun that I built with >45 inlays of MOP, bone, brass, brass wire, and copper.

dave

[Majorjoel]

 Very nice work Dave on the 17th century rifle! Are the barrel pin escutcheons MOP? How was it for engraving? Any special tool for engraving? It is not a material you would use nails or tacks to adhere to the stock. What kind of adhesive works best to hold the inlays in permanently?  I really appreciate all of the heads up from everyone regarding the characteristics of this material.  I'm learning a lot here!!

[Bill-52]

Joel,

Great find.  I have seen mother of pearl used for tear drop inlays on cheekpieces, including on a Daniel Shell percussion rifle, younger brother of John Shell.

Bill

[smart dog]

Hi Joel,
The pin escutcheons are MOP as well as the dragon face, flower bulbs, winged Putti and blossom above his head, and sunflower faces.  I used Titebond III glue.  Only the metal inlays had pins.  In the old days they used hide glue.  Engraving MOP is not hard but you have to go slow.  Use a scribe or X-acto blade just like you would for a powderhorn but slowly scribe the line in making many shallow cuts.  Don't go deep fast or you will shatter or splinter the MOP.  Even small micro-chipping will show when the ink is applied.  You can see some of that in my work.  It is almost impossible to make perfectly smooth lines without some raggedness to them.

dave