Cleaning Ab shells?

Anyone have any good ideas on how to clean up a beautiful ab shell that my friend got from opening weekend? I am so at a loss. Gracias!

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miss read the question ... thought it was how to clean ab guts

I put them on the fence, and let them sit for months, stinking for the first few days. Works every time.

http://diver.net/seahunt/d_rashel.htm

Abalone dust is reported to be pretty toxic. If you plan on working with the shells make sure you research proper mask systems.

Mark

Thanks for the link and for all the other suggestions posted. I am trying to avoid using muriatic acid for a number of reason, primarily because the thought of acid is a bit intimidating. That being said - I would like to get it spiffed up and looking good. At the present time, I have it outside in the shade and the ants are doing a good job at cleaning out the barnicles and other such messes from the external portions of the shell. At some point, however, I will have to work on it some more.

I've used abalone and paua shell inlays on some of my artwork, and prepare it like this. It isn't easy, and it does generate a lot of toxic dust, but the results are nice. Definately do it with good ventilation (outside on a breezy day or in front of a HEPA filtered vacuum hose) and a particle mask.

Once the ants have finished, knock the barnackes off with a small wooden mallet (improvised if necessary). Using a medium grit sandpaper, remove the crusty outer shell. Once that tedious process is done, use a fine grit sandpaper to remove the scratches. Then use a super-fine grit sandpaper to remove those scratches. Repeat with an even finer paper. If you go to an automotive supply store, you should be able to find 1500 grit wet-dry finishing sandpaper. Using that, you can polish it to to a glassy finish that looks beautiful.

I suspect there's a better/faster way, but I don't know it and this works... eventually.