Casein shrinkage

[carlmorrell]

I made this pen about a year ago. The next day I noticed a small crack, and attributed it to sloppy assembly. Over the next few days I noticed the crack grew. I figured, this will make a good carryaround, if I lose it, so what.

I noticed the other day that there were gaps forming on the end. Disassembled it last night. Unaware that casein could shrink.


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[ed4copies]

I've never seen casein with a pattern!!

Why do you believe it is casein??

 

[carlmorrell]

Ed, that's what I thought. Casein is off-white.

I bought this from a vendor in England. He sells a lot of old stuff. Found him originally on ebay, he sells cellulose acetate, and some Conway Stewart blanks. I thought once it has color, it is called galalith, but Mike Shue corrected me yesterday that galalith is just the french name of casein.

I turned a material sold as galalith, and it smells like sour milk, just like this stuff. Would love to hear your opinion.

Casein - Pen Blanks - Shop

 

[ed4copies]

England is where casein is made--so I would assume what he tells you is true.

You say it smells, like casein--that is usually my first and most convincing piece of evidence--thanks for showing!!

 

[Brooks803]

It's definitely casein. I believe those in particular are called "Tiffany Casein" bc of the color and pattern. I've used those myself. Moisture is one of the biggest enemies of casein. So if you used water while drilling, or wet sanding it's possible it absorbed some and swelled only to shrink back to it's former size later on.

When I use it I sleeve and cap both sides to help resist moisture. Even really high humidity can mess with it.