I am very happy to introduce a new innovation that has been in development here in my shop for the last two years. In an effort to work more efficiently and increase the quality of my abalone purflings, I have developed and engineered a product I am calling ZipFlex (for flexible abalone). This is a real and genuine abalone strip (actually made from Chuck Erikson’s Abalam) that has been re-engineered to be flexible. This allows it to be inlaid in a far more efficient manner than before. Nothing like this as ever existed that I am aware of. So in anticipation of your many questions about ZipFlex I have written up an extensive FAQ about it. This FAQ may be found on our Advanced Shell Technology website. These are questions that I have anticipated of course but also questions from my good friends in the luthierie community who have been “on the inside” for the last few year as I have developed it.

ZipFlex is now available from Advanced Shell Technology.