Ammonite Inlay!

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Pen_Turner_Dan

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I am a little crazy I guess, and want exotic stuff for my guitar that I am building. I cam across this fossil and found it's beautiful color magnificent. I am going to inlay my name on my guitar head stock, not huge, just subtle enough to let people know it's an original, and I found the material I am going to use... if it's possible! :tongue:

This is a website that SELLS ammonite, can anyone confirm if ammonite can be used as inlay material, and if this is a real color or just a polished, souped up version of the real thing. :cat:

Canada Fossils: Ammonite

Thanks,
Dan
 
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Probably not what you are seeing is replacement of the shell there is no original shell material left as in the MOP or the abalone. The ones from Africa are crystals inside of the shells. which are split and then the insides are polished.
The colors you see on the outside are very thin and only on the top layer of the replacement minerals. I will try to get some photo's of the ones I was making belt buckles out of. All though they have very lit colors.
:clown:
 
DSCF0004.jpg

3 ammonite/cephalopods cut in half with the sides polished. The wall of the former shell isn't very thick, and the flashy color is a very thin layer.
:clown:
 
Real stuff and real colors, but also real pricetag. I bought my wife some jewelry, and the nice stuff is mucho expensive. They are amazing and the multi color in the fossils are hard to find.
 
Pen_Turner_Dan said:
Not red enough! So do you think it's thick enough for inlay? :)
Click to expand...
The color contain material is not thick enough, it is also curved more than either or the other popular inlay shell material.

The white lines in them are the thickness of the material of the outer shell walls also.

You will need a diamond blade saw to cut the material. Don't know how you intend to inlay it you may get pieces big enough or not. You also may have it shatter into very small shards. This will depend on on what minerals have replaced the original shell.

They is no shell left, it is now a rock. Depending on the matrix soil rock material it is found in They also can be treated with a resin to keep them together. Some are in a clay like soil, some in a harder stone like, and some are in chalk.

The other thing to consider is the larger the size the greater the curvature of the outside shell.The ones in the photo are about 2 1/2" top to bottom.

They will vary in the colors and the amount of the flash on them to like the one on the right side has no flash and is dull before polishing. If you are just going to inlay the whole piece in then you could probably make it work even if you had to fill the surface level to the surface of the wood body.

Just google the word ammonite, you will find hundreds of people selling them.

You may have to go to a gift shop or rock shop to look at them before you buy as generally rock shop have a no return policy.
:clown:
 
I bought my wife a pendant while on our honeymoon in Banff Alberta. Certain colours are rare and quite expensive. If you want blue sit down when you ask the price.

AK
 
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