Pearl shell part 2

Whilst I rejected Fiona's suggestion about cutting up the pearl shell using a 100mm side grinder with a cut off blade attached on the grounds of 'overkill'; I did think the idea could work if it were downsized. So I decided to take a similar approach with a Dremel tool and mini cutoff disk.

I did a bit of a test run in the garage last night. Two things: it worked as you can see from the photo below; and second don't ever cut up pearl shell with a Dremel inside. The amount of shell dust was amazing; and a smell similar to rotting seaweed that was emitted as the shell was cut was really bad. The smell was so bad that Fiona just put her nose in the door and immediately bolted upstairs.

Today I set myself up outside well away from the garage and in a spot that got a breeze.

As you can see from the photos below there is good and bad news: the good news is that the cutting process worked; and I managed to cut both the round pearl shapes out successfully. The bad news is I dropped one of the pieces on the bitumen driveway and chipped the front of the pearl. Another lesson learnt: put down some carpet when working with pearl outside on the driveway as it is just so soft.

I will send the pieces on the left to a friend; will keep the chipped piece as a reminder; and will give Noela and Brigit some of the off cuts below to play with.

And another conclusion I have come to is that I don't really have the patience to be a jeweler if it involves using the hand saw; but if I can use the Dremel etc then I could give some chunkier pieces a go.