Best Source for Abalone?

[Chris Jackson]

Looking for a less costly alternative to Stewmac and LMI for Abalone. Feel free to post your thoughts/ideas here.

[Ron Bontz]

Have you contacted (Thien An Company Ltd.) I believe they are out of California. They have a flea bay presence as well.
I ordered some white and gold mop from them in custom sizes and they were dead on accurate. Their other dots seem to be cheaper than some of the other places as well. www.exotichandcraft.com or I think www.shell-inlay.com Best of luck.

[Tai Fu]

There's an ebay seller called "inlaidartist" that sells cheap abalone/MOP blanks/dots/etc. as well as bone blanks. I don't buy those from Stewmac or LMI anymore because of Lacey Act.

[Chris Fournier]

Try this link: http://www.dukeofpearl.com/

[John Coloccia]

I get most of my stuff from here:

http://stores.masecraftsupply.com/StoreFront.bok

They're local to me so I can go down to their showroom and just pick stuff up. Nice guys. They have some stuff that's not even on their website, or they did anyway. There's a particular size of MOP side dot I use that I've had to ask for. They have it...just not on the site. They'll also custom cut stuff if it's a large enough order. They've supplied a lot of instrument makers with shell over the years.

[John Bailey]

I don't know what's considered inexpensive, but Grizzly has a good assortment of abalone.

[John Coloccia]

I think Grizzly mostly carries Ablam, which is not a solid abalone material. It's some sort of laminated glued together stuff. It's not a bad product, actually, and it's used a lot, especially for purflings. It's like Stratabond vs solid wood. Stratabond is a great material...far closer to solid wood that any ordinary plywood. I have necks made from Stratabond that I like. It's just not solid wood :)

[James Leonard]

There's an ebay seller called "inlaidartist" that sells cheap abalone/MOP blanks/dots/etc. as well as bone blanks. I don't buy those from Stewmac or LMI anymore because of Lacey Act.

AFAIK InlaidArtist ships from China? Who pays the $93 Fish and Wildlife inspection fee? For Lacey act reasons be SURE to deal with an importer who has the cleared FWS declarations on file.

-James

[John Coloccia]

Hey, welcome to the Creek, Tai. Nice to see you here.

[Tai Fu]

I am not located in the US and LMI/Stewmac ships shells product US only so that's why I buy from inlaidartist. As far as I know there's no lacey act in Taiwan.

[James Leonard]

Ok, I see. Yes the Lacey Act has made it impossible to ship small amounts of shell overseas. All the USA based inlay supply vendors have stopped doing that. My comments were for the folks here that need to be aware of the legality of importing even a small amount for personal use. Without the FWS inspection and customs clearance it is not legal even if for personal use.

[george wilson]

I haven't heard of the Lacey Act. What is wrong with shipping pearl and abalone? Why is it not legal for personal use? I've googled it. I can see,and have long known, about protecting endangered species. But,is mother of pearl or abalone endangered? Makes no sense to me at all.

[Tai Fu]

It requires special licensing for any and all shell, regardless of species. It also requires careful recordkeeping for any and all species of wood, down to the person who cut it down. Violation is a huge fine (possibly criminal charges, like all Orwellian US laws) and confiscation of the item in question. It also costs 90 dollars just to ship any shell, even if its tiny fragment of it.

[george wilson]

I just don't get it. A piece of shell is not like killing an elephant. I think this is one of those laws written by politicians who do not know what they are talking about. Containing sweeping regulations that do unforeseen damage to our freedoms. Too much feel good legislation,as usual.

[John Coloccia]

I just don't get it. A piece of shell is not like killing an elephant. I think this is one of those laws written by politicians who do not know what they are talking about. Containing sweeping regulations that do unforeseen damage to our freedoms. Too much feel good legislation,as usual.

Some idiot decided that you basically have to prove that EVERY natural material is legal. You need to fill out forms. It's expensive. People have had their guitars confiscated because some moron can't tell the difference between bone and ivory, or they didn't have the proper paperwork. It's totally shocking what they're doing to us.

[Tai Fu]

It's just like the DMCA, you don't own your devices like DVD players or iphone. Jailbreak your phone or unlock region codes on your DVD player and you're liable to go to jail!