Using a reconstituted rock material to give a black marble effect, I found a profile image of a Raven in flight to use as a fretboard inlay centred on the 12th octave fret.
Chloe manipulated the image to create the silhouette effect I wanted and simplified it slightly so that it would make the cutting easier with the jewellers saw. ‘Reconstituted rock’ is basically just compacted dust, so it can be very delicate when cut thinly and has a tendency to delaminate. We printed out a few different sizes before choosing the one that fit the best, and then cut out strips from across the image to marry up with the existing frets. Ideally all inlay work should be attempted before the frets are installed, as it makes all the work so much easier.
The yellow poster paint allows a heavy contrast against the rosewood when scoring around the substrate to inlay, making the routing process much more clearly defined. The water-based paint is then easily sanded off of the woodwork, without leaving any trace.
As with all my builds now, included on the headstock is my rhunic monogram design, this time in figured mother-of-pearl.
