Acrylic paint instead of MOP inlays

[Jonas]

Would it be possible to make fake inlays with a pearl colored acrylic paint with shellac finish over it? I am planning this for my IV kit, but I don't know if it can be done. Anyone ever tried anything like this?

I would love to make real MOP inlays for the headstock but I have neither the skills nor the tools. But I think a totally blank headstock looks strange, plus I would certainly like to have my name on there so it shows I built it myself! Is this a way out?

[Bob DeVellis]

Well, it's possible of course. Some companies use decals under varnish, which are probably even more fragile than paint would be. It might be hard, though, to get a clean look to it (depending on how complicated the design is). Another alternative might be wire inlay. It'seasier to bend wire than it is to cut pearl. You could practice on some scrap to get the technique down. And the result can be very attractive. You might also be able to buy some precut, fairly simply-shaped pearl pieces to put on there as well.

[thistle3585]

I have done several things on headstocks. I've used a Testors model decal kit, had a sign cutter cut my name in thin vinyl and have had Bryan England do my name in thin MOP and did an overlay instead of inlay. The MOP was about $20.00 and the others less than $10.00.

[PaulD]

Alternately, a nicely figured piece of wood can stand by itself on the peghead and you could print a label with your name for the inside of the mando. If you want to paint on your mando, you may try applying frisk (available from airbush art suppliers) to the peghead, drawing your name/design on the frisk, and then cutting it out with an Xacto knife. You'll end up with a stencil that will be sealed tightly against the peghead overlay. As with anything, you should try it on scrap first, and you may want to seal the grain on the overly to avoid the colored paint bleeding under the frisk.

pd

[van]

I was an artist before I became a luither and acrylics work very well. I paint my bindings and my fret markers as well as my headstock. I have just recently completed my first atempt at abalone inlays and I made a few mistakes but I took pearl and metalic acrylics and covered them up and it woorked so well that the average person cannot tell the shell from the paint. I paint first and then varnish over. I like the way it looks and will post some pics when my #8 is complete.

[Jonas]

Cool, I guess I will try it then.

Thanks for your answers.

[arbarnhart]

I have used a slurry of ultra fine pearlescent glitter (craft store or craft aisle of discount store) and epoxy (NOT 5 minute - the longer curing stuff) as a substitute of sorts. It works best for dots; drill a small shallow hole and fill it. But if you can chip carve or have another method for etching (Dremel with router base works for me), it can also fill drawn designs.