Walnut burl with agate windows

Beau Hannam Ukuleles

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I first came up with the window idea for a moon inlay but on my test pieces I found that Mother of Pearl- even when at .050" is still way to opaque to be an effective window, or even to give a dull glow.

I then went to a yard sale of a jeweller and gem cutter- He was selling agate guitar picks and i asked how strong agate is- he dropped the pick on the ground and said- its almost as strong as steel.

Agate is also see through (well, some of it) thus providing a perfect material to use as a 'window'. I also love the swirls and lines in agate.

This uke is for a Sci Fi writer so i choose agate with colours that reminded me of Jupiter, Mars and nebulas etc. Orange agate for the front of the headstock, and black for the back.

The front piece also has a crystal lined hole in it- im sure there is some term for this but i don't know what it is.

Between the agate slices - i layed some gold leaf which i supposed would reflect light a bit better then mahogany.

For anyone using agate- its not possible to sand with wood working tools, so get it cut and finished to perfect size. These pieces were a bit uneven in thickness- ALL 4 corners were different thickness which proved a challenge to inlay it perfectly flat. Remember- if it is in any way proud of the surface, you cant sand it flat..... The walnut surrounding it is only .020" thick veneer so it could have all ended in disaster, but it didn't :)

 
That agate had a pocket of "druzy" quartz inside. Agate is harder than steel, but then steel wouldn't fracture the way a slice of agate would. The "toughness" of rock is referred to as tenacity. Jade is much softer than agate, but extremely tenacious, while agate is much harder but more brittle. Should be enough useless facts to hold me the rest of the evening, LOL

PS: I have some agate with the same tones as that headstock!
 
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That agate had a pocket of "druzy" quartz inside. Agate is harder than steel, but then steel wouldn't fracture the way a slice of agate would. The "toughness" of rock is referred to as tenacity. Jade is much softer than agate, but extremely tenacious, while agate is much harder but more brittle. Should be enough useless facts to hold me the rest of the evening, LOL

PS: I have some agate with the same tones as that headstock!

Thank you for the technical terms Phil !!!- i will be sure to google the terms :)

Thanks for the kind words
 
Awesome! I love this kind of clever design work and use of non-conventional materials. Nice work on the level inlay despite inconsistent thickness, too!

I like the moon idea even better. You could do it by gluing the MOP to a piece of clear plastic for strength, so you can sand it as thin as you want for translucency.
 
Awesome! I love this kind of clever design work and use of non-conventional materials. Nice work on the level inlay despite inconsistent thickness, too!

I like the moon idea even better. You could do it by gluing the MOP to a piece of clear plastic for strength, so you can sand it as thin as you want for translucency.

I definitely will use agate again for "windows"- Ill probably do the moon idea some other time- but i will get my "Agate guy" to cut some white agate into a circle :)
 
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