A heavy abalone shell

Hello,

today I found an abalone shell, size 9”-7 1/2”. The unique part for this shell is its weight.
From the photo you can see the shell wall is very thick. I wonder if it can be used for any jewelry craft, like beads or carving?
There are corrosion marks on the surface, but still it has potential.
Any suggestions?

 

Any pictures ?

 

shells don't corrode.... they pit.!

 

the larger the shell the thicker they are....
yours is big...but not large..

 

a lot of weight has to be removed to get to the inside nacre..

 

Please find attached photos and you can see the thickness of the wall in reference to my fingers

 

Back in the day we would have used that as an ashtray

 

looks like yours was an old soul !!

 

That's huge ! I've abaloned in Califiorniafor 50 years & that specimen's big.

 

I wouldn't like to tackle that shell to 'harvest' the inside for jewellery. You have to remember that it is a very hard substance, and you have to be careful how you go about cutting it.
I have cut and sanded MOP buttons in shape to repair jewellery, and I can tell you, I'd rather cut and sand stone in shape. And MOP buttons don't even have all that shell on them.

Abalone is used in smudging rituals (spiritual cleansing by smoke), and California white abalone was traditionally used for that by many tribes, so it is still the most popular variety.
So if you want to repurpose your shell, take up smudging.
Or just put it on display, it is an old and beautiful one.

 

I've also heard on lots of luthier sites that grinding MOP can produce a pretty harmful dust.