I use phenolic for My black, but for the white I have only used the MP so far. It's a decent material, and produces a hit that alot of people like, but It's not as hard or as white as what I would like to get for My next batch of cues. The batch I have seems more of a light tan/cream color. Still It has It's place, and I would still use It when the job required MP. I use It on some ferrules too. It produces a softer feel when needed.
I am interested in the same topic discussed here though. Looking for the best material to use in joints and butt caps. I'm looking for the really white stuff, so I guess something that looks like clean cut Ivory. As I mentioned sometimes I will use something softer depending on the hit i'm trying to get, but for the most part I'm liking the feel of phenolic, hoping to find something really white that I can replace It with though, for when I need It for a different color design that requires white, and also a harder material.
I noticed a few things mentioned here. I always heard grice was good, but never had the opertunity to try it out. It's no good to me now days if I can't get matching rod in butt cap diameter though. BTW does anyone know if and what other colors you can get the stuff in. I asked chad about the white grice one time when he was still with atlas, and he said he had a sample on his desk at the time, but it was an ugly color. Seems like he mentioned a puke or seafoam green color. Remembering that conversation just made me wonder if there were any other colors It's available in that may be more desirable?
I guess My question for the white I mentioned, would be, what type of white rod that atlas carries would be closest to my needs? I see Ivorine 3 and 4, so wondering what the pros and cons are with those? Is Ivorine 3 the better choice, even with the sanding/bleeding issue. I usually seal My light colors before sanding anyway, but that requires the material to machine really well in the first place, so i guess my other question is how smooth does it machine with say a router or manual tooling. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm trying to highjack the thread here since it is related to the same topic. I've just been looking at different materials myself lately, and trying to decide which kind to buy a few lenths of, and well, the chit ain't cheap, so I want to get It right the first time, and not waste a few hundred bucks in the proccess.
Greg