Have any of you cue makers ever tried using Tagua Nuts, otherwise known as Vegetable Ivory?
I recently saw items carved out of this material and it looks and feels like real ivory. Without knowing much about it, it looks like it would be great for inlays and maybe ferrules.
I'm just wondering if any of you have heard of it, or possibly tried it.
The following information is taken from a small handout they had in the shop, selling the Tagua nut carvings.
The Tagua nut grows in several tropical regions of South America, on trees 20 to 30 feet high. When the nut matures and falls to the ground, they are gathered and dried for 8 to 12 weeks, after which, they become extremely hard.
The Tagua nut has a close grain, is very hard and has a cellular structure and grain similar to that of elephant ivory, but is more dense and resilient. It resembles the finest ivory in texture and color and it is slightly softer than mammal ivory.
These nuts have been used by craftsman for years and is frequently passed as elephant ivory. It is so much like mammal ivory that pieces carved from it are sold at the same price as elephant ivory, and in some carvings, much more.
For over two hundred years, vegetable ivory has been used by ivory carvers in the making of netsukes, dice, dominos and chess pieces. Other uses include cane and umbrella handles, mah-jongg tiles, sewing needle cases, religious figurines, toys and the fine art of scrimshaw. In the late eighteen hundreds up through World War II this ivory nut was used to make some of the finest buttons in the clothing industry.
I recently saw items carved out of this material and it looks and feels like real ivory. Without knowing much about it, it looks like it would be great for inlays and maybe ferrules.
I'm just wondering if any of you have heard of it, or possibly tried it.
The following information is taken from a small handout they had in the shop, selling the Tagua nut carvings.
The Tagua nut grows in several tropical regions of South America, on trees 20 to 30 feet high. When the nut matures and falls to the ground, they are gathered and dried for 8 to 12 weeks, after which, they become extremely hard.
The Tagua nut has a close grain, is very hard and has a cellular structure and grain similar to that of elephant ivory, but is more dense and resilient. It resembles the finest ivory in texture and color and it is slightly softer than mammal ivory.
These nuts have been used by craftsman for years and is frequently passed as elephant ivory. It is so much like mammal ivory that pieces carved from it are sold at the same price as elephant ivory, and in some carvings, much more.
For over two hundred years, vegetable ivory has been used by ivory carvers in the making of netsukes, dice, dominos and chess pieces. Other uses include cane and umbrella handles, mah-jongg tiles, sewing needle cases, religious figurines, toys and the fine art of scrimshaw. In the late eighteen hundreds up through World War II this ivory nut was used to make some of the finest buttons in the clothing industry.
