I need white

What material can be used for white?

First choice would be ivory, but I'm not sure that it is available anymore
(isn't selling ivory banned worldwide?) I'd love a substance that looks waxy
in texture, is fairly hard, can be carved/engraved / milled into a flat
block about 1/ inch square. It shouldn't be glossy, and must be fairly hard,
so it won't just crumble. Obviously, the (purer) whiter the better. I don't
really want to use a plastic.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Michael

Michael wrote:
What material can be used for white?

First choice would be ivory, but I'm not sure that it is available anymore
(isn't selling ivory banned worldwide?) I'd love a substance that looks waxy
in texture, is fairly hard, can be carved/engraved / milled into a flat
block about 1/ inch square. It shouldn't be glossy, and must be fairly hard,
so it won't just crumble. Obviously, the (purer) whiter the better. I don't
really want to use a plastic.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Michael




Well, since you don't want to use plastic, in which case Delrin would be
ideal, because it has all the required properties you want, how about Fimo?

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

"Michael" a écrit dans le message de
...
What material can be used for white?

First choice would be ivory, but I'm not sure that it is available anymore
(isn't selling ivory banned worldwide?) I'd love a substance that looks
waxy
in texture, is fairly hard, can be carved/engraved / milled into a flat
block about 1/ inch square. It shouldn't be glossy, and must be fairly
hard,
so it won't just crumble. Obviously, the (purer) whiter the better. I
don't
really want to use a plastic.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Michael



Walrus tusks, meerschaum, bleached bone, white marble, white quartz are only
a few. What do you consider as "fairly hard"? I believe that you can mill
ANYTHING into a 1 inch square. The original porosity of the materiel,
combined with the surface finishing technique will determine the "gloss" of
the object.
BR

Tagua nut. AKA vegetable ivory.
Or fossil walrus tusk.

I plead ignorance the details but any 'old' ivory should be legal to
use. Some folks recycle old piano keys.
Carl


Michael wrote:

What material can be used for white?

First choice would be ivory, but I'm not sure that it is available anymore
(isn't selling ivory banned worldwide?) I'd love a substance that looks waxy
in texture, is fairly hard, can be carved/engraved / milled into a flat
block about 1/ inch square. It shouldn't be glossy, and must be fairly hard,
so it won't just crumble. Obviously, the (purer) whiter the better. I don't
really want to use a plastic.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Michael




--
to reply, change ( .not) to ( .net)

Michael wrote:
What material can be used for white?

First choice would be ivory, but I'm not sure that it is available anymore
(isn't selling ivory banned worldwide?) I'd love a substance that looks waxy
in texture, is fairly hard, can be carved/engraved / milled into a flat
block about 1/ inch square. It shouldn't be glossy, and must be fairly hard,
so it won't just crumble. Obviously, the (purer) whiter the better. I don't
really want to use a plastic.

Too bad, because delrin would meet all but the no-plastic requirement.
Tagua nut is OK, and is used by many turners, but it's a bit on the
yellow side and gets dirty easily. It's also hollow in the middle
and brittle. You could fire white enamel, but you can't carve that.
White mother of perl is a possibility. Some woods are fairly white.
Check your local fine woods store.

On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 09:09:41 GMT, "Michael"
wrote:

What material can be used for white?

First choice would be ivory, but I'm not sure that it is available anymore
(isn't selling ivory banned worldwide?) I'd love a substance that looks waxy
in texture, is fairly hard, can be carved/engraved / milled into a flat
block about 1/ inch square. It shouldn't be glossy, and must be fairly hard,
so it won't just crumble. Obviously, the (purer) whiter the better. I don't
really want to use a plastic.

Any ideas?

Tagua nut, although it's expensive.

Here's a vendor:

http://www.oneworldprojects.com/products/tagua.shtml

And for beautiful carved and painted tagua nuts, see:

http://www.redhorseranch.com/TaguaBeads.htm

Oh, since it *is* a vegetable, you have to keep it safe from mice.

--
Marilee J. Layman

Marilee J. Layman wrote:
On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 09:09:41 GMT, "Michael"
wrote:


What material can be used for white?

First choice would be ivory, but I'm not sure that it is available anymore
(isn't selling ivory banned worldwide?) I'd love a substance that looks waxy
in texture, is fairly hard, can be carved/engraved / milled into a flat
block about 1/ inch square. It shouldn't be glossy, and must be fairly hard,
so it won't just crumble. Obviously, the (purer) whiter the better. I don't
really want to use a plastic.

Any ideas?


Tagua nut, although it's expensive.

Actually the prices for tagua nuts at this site aren't expensive. They
usually sell for about $1 US each in quantities of less than 10. It also
looks like the quality is better than what I'm used to getting.

One word of caution. If you work tagua nuts with power tools, wear a
dust respirator. The dust is extremely irritating to the lungs.

--RC

Here's a vendor:

http://www.oneworldprojects.com/products/tagua.shtml

And for beautiful carved and painted tagua nuts, see:

http://www.redhorseranch.com/TaguaBeads.htm

Oh, since it *is* a vegetable, you have to keep it safe from mice.

Carl 1 Lucky Texan wrote:
Tagua nut. AKA vegetable ivory.
Or fossil walrus tusk.

I plead ignorance the details but any 'old' ivory should be legal to
use. Some folks recycle old piano keys.
Carl


Michael wrote:


What material can be used for white?

First choice would be ivory, but I'm not sure that it is available anymore
(isn't selling ivory banned worldwide?) I'd love a substance that looks waxy
in texture, is fairly hard, can be carved/engraved / milled into a flat
block about 1/ inch square. It shouldn't be glossy, and must be fairly hard,
so it won't just crumble. Obviously, the (purer) whiter the better. I don't
really want to use a plastic.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Michael





The problem with tauga nuts is that most of them are not white. They are
at best pale yellow and a lot of them are distinctly orange or brown.

I still haven't found a source of consistently white tauga nuts.

--RC

Michael wrote:
What material can be used for white?

First choice would be ivory, but I'm not sure that it is available anymore
(isn't selling ivory banned worldwide?) I'd love a substance that looks waxy
in texture, is fairly hard, can be carved/engraved / milled into a flat
block about 1/ inch square. It shouldn't be glossy, and must be fairly hard,
so it won't just crumble. Obviously, the (purer) whiter the better. I don't
really want to use a plastic.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Michael



Howlite. Opalite. Those are the common ones around here.
--RC

"Marilee J. Layman" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 09:09:41 GMT, "Michael"
wrote:

What material can be used for white?

First choice would be ivory, but I'm not sure that it is available
anymore
(isn't selling ivory banned worldwide?) I'd love a substance that looks
waxy
in texture, is fairly hard, can be carved/engraved / milled into a flat
block about 1/ inch square. It shouldn't be glossy, and must be fairly
hard,
so it won't just crumble. Obviously, the (purer) whiter the better. I
don't
really want to use a plastic.

Any ideas?

Tagua nut, although it's expensive.

Here's a vendor:

http://www.oneworldprojects.com/products/tagua.shtml

And for beautiful carved and painted tagua nuts, see:

http://www.redhorseranch.com/TaguaBeads.htm

Oh, since it *is* a vegetable, you have to keep it safe from mice.

--
Marilee J. Layman


Research on Google (or just about any search engine) would reveal that tagua
may be expensive as a carved piece of art (as any other material) but also
that tagua bead strands of almost an inch in diameter are available for just
a couple of dollars.