For the second time this year I've just been told the abalone inlays in a cue were cut from an insanely expensive piece of material. I'm hearing numbers like $1200 and $900 being thrown out there for a single slab of "premium" grade abalone. Is this possible? Sure sounds like B.S. to me but I'm not in the business. If this is true, I may get into the abalone business.
Premium Grade Abalone?
- Thread starter pathman
- Start date
There's an Abalone farm right down the road, I'm sure it's not that much for the raw material. I am not sure what it takes to make sheets of it.
You can also go dive for them. The XXL one sell for about $18.00 a pound. And there pretty big shells.
Aloha
You can also go dive for them. The XXL one sell for about $18.00 a pound. And there pretty big shells.
Aloha
http://bigislandabalone.com/
Here you go, almost everything you would ever not want to know about abalone.
Here you go, almost everything you would ever not want to know about abalone.
The highly figured paua shell (and other abalone, etc) and laminated composite sheets are very expensive in the thicknesses needed for cuemaking. Since I do know the difference I don't want weak or non figured shell inlays in any cues I get! Martin
Before I discovered someone was producing abalone in laminated sheets I used to buy whole shells while in Florida or yard sales. I would saw them up and get a bunch of small pieces out of them and sand them flat and use them for really small slabs. Some looked really nice and some did not. But I was always limited on size of inlays. Most cuemakers will opt to pay the big bucks for the high end laminated material that is prettier and easier to use than to try and cut up shells. And I am one of them now. I can spend several hundred dollars on material or spend a few days cutting and sanding a few shells and end up with inferior material in smaller pieces. With labor prices here in the USA it is a no brainer on which I should choose.
You're 100% correct but there are still those who would rather cut and sand because they are saving a couple dollars. They don't look at their time as being worth anything as they're saving money. This can be said about most anything today as there are always those who haven't yet figured it out or are so darn thrifty that saving 48 cents means more to them than an hour of their time.
We have some abalone shells sitting here that have incredible heart but by the time you sand and cut there is so little to work with that's it's a waste of time. These were given to us about 15 years ago by someone who was "doing me a favor". I never said anything except gee thanks! :grin:
The laminated sheets are the only way to go.