[CharleneS]

Hi,
I’m not a carver. I make beaded jewelry and decorative items which I sell at www.BeadMatters.com and at fairs in south Louisiana and south Texas. I have a regular client that approached me to make a custom necklace for her to give as a gift. Her design included a custom pendant of carved bone with turquoise and silver inlay. I told her that I "would not know how to begin to make the pendant" but I would try to find someone who does. I hope one of you can help me, or knows someone who can!

Thanks,
Charlene

[Debbie K]

Charlene:

My name is Debbie Kirkpatrick and I am in Houston, Texas. If you want to do the work yourself you could probably find some turquoise that has been slabbed and cut it with a tile wetsaw and do any fine shaping with a flex-shaft rotary tool (Dremel or Foredom) and diamond burs. Ditto for the bone.

Turquoise and bone are available on ebay and at lapidary/rock shops. There's an Intergem show coming up on June 19,20,21 at Reliant Center in Houston. Also, go to HGMS.org and see if there are any lapidary clubs in your area. You could probably get the stones cut (and maybe even buy them) from someone in your area.

Does the customer want fine lines or heavy lines of metal between the inlay? If fine, you can probably fabricate the piece using bezel wire, if heavy, it will probably be best to cast it.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions you can email me directly at hdlsk@att.net.

Debbie

[CharleneS]

Hi, Debbie
Thanks for the quick reply. The link to HGMS.org is great. And, yes, I will be emailing you with my questions!