Carving in Pearl shell

Aloha ya'll!
Here are some recent carvings I did in gold lip pearl shell. The hardest part is finding the shell. I like big shells which are also very thick. A really big shell can be over 10 inches across, but any around 5 inches can be OK. These are bivalve or two sided shells, and the thickest part is around the hinge. First, if the shell is not already polished, you need to grind off the outside crust, not an easy job. Sometimes you will then see wormholes, which you then must work around.
To carve it, I cut it out with a hacksaw with one of those round grit encrusted wire saws, then use my grinding motor with 80 grit sanding disk to shape the carving a bit. Then I use a large Tungsten Carbide Cylinber burr, which I order from Rio Grande Albuquerque, in my Foredom flex shaft tool. This is great for roughing it out, and other burrs, small sanding discs, etc, to finish it off, ready to polish with white rouge.
I sell these for about $ 170 up to over $ 200
Tightlines,
Louie the Fish!!

[ Edited by: Louiethefish 2010-03-26 10:43 ]