Tagua nut, ivory substitute?

o.g. (old guy)

o.g. (old guy)

mark
Silver Member
I was looking through an art gallery today and noticed some carvings that looked a lot like ivory. They were decent sized, definately large enough for a ferrule, some look big enough for joints.
Has anybody heard of this or tried it? Doesn't look too expensive. It did seem a little lighter than ivory. I believe it's from south america.
 
o.g. (old guy) said:
I was looking through an art gallery today and noticed some carvings that looked a lot like ivory. They were decent sized, definately large enough for a ferrule, some look big enough for joints.
Has anybody heard of this or tried it? Doesn't look too expensive. It did seem a little lighter than ivory. I believe it's from south america.
Click to expand...

The nut has an irregular hole in the center. Makes it rather hard to turn and be sure there will not be a void. Might be easier to get joint collars than a ferrule as the hole is larger than tenon size.
 
Thanks for the reply Bob, I saw some carvings that were decent sized, no visible hole. If you could get a big enough piece do you think it would be suitable ferrule material? Is it hard enough? Maybe cracks easy? Just curious if anyone has ever tried it. It does look a lot like ivory.
 
o.g. (old guy) said:
Thanks for the reply Bob, I saw some carvings that were decent sized, no visible hole. If you could get a big enough piece do you think it would be suitable ferrule material? Is it hard enough? Maybe cracks easy? Just curious if anyone has ever tried it. It does look a lot like ivory.
Click to expand...

https://www.bing.com/images/search?...ree&qpvt=tagua+tree&qpvt=tagua+tree&FORM=IGRE

If you look through the pics you will see how the void can be different on each nut. Yes, if it was large enough you could probably get a ferrule and it would be strong enough. They were used for buttons for many years before plastic.
 
Ya I see what you mean about the holes. Would probably be a crap shoot if you ordered some, may not get any big enough to work with but I do think they're out there. I saw one carving that was over 2" long and about 5/8" dia.
 
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