Alt Ivory from CSUSA

[Grizz]

Hi,

I just purchased some alt Ivory and thought it felt kinda weird in my hand. (at least not what I was expecting).

Is there anything special I need to do or worry about turning this stuff? And I thought it would be really white and it is a pale white... is that normal?

Thanks.

[marcruby]

Ivory isn't really white - off white to yellowed would be more what I would expect. Does the material have any noticeable grain? That seems to be what's missing in the alternate ivory I've seen.

Marc

[pipecrafter]

When turning the alt ivory, go slow and make sure your tools are fresh and sharp. It's going to want to chip out if you get too aggressive, or have to pres hard due to a dull tool. And when it start to go, it's going to go bad - little tiny chips will fly everywhere, and the surface will look like a shiny oak tree. It's truly a pain in the ass on a wood lathe. I try to turn as much of that stuff as I can on the metal lathe with a really fine feed, and only turn it on the wood lathe when I absolutely have to.

[DonWood]

Hi Everyone:

I couldn't agree more with the comments about the Alt Ivory. I had a special request for a couple of pens made from this, but I don't think I will ever use it again. I ended up bringing down to final shape by sanding instead of cutting. Lots of sanding, but at least I ended up with the pens I needed, but it took quite a while.

[Mack C.]

Originally Posted by pipecrafter

When turning the alt ivory, go slow and make sure your tools are fresh and sharp. It's going to want to chip out if you get too aggressive, or have to pres hard due to a dull tool. And when it start to go, it's going to go bad - little tiny chips will fly everywhere, and the surface will look like a shiny oak tree. It's truly a pain in the ass on a wood lathe. I try to turn as much of that stuff as I can on the metal lathe with a really fine feed, and only turn it on the wood lathe when I absolutely have to.

And here I thought it was me and my technique.

I just purchased 5 blanks from Ed4copies. I ruined the first one attempting to turn it like I would turn wood. Tiny chips did fly everywhere.

Turning the 2nd blank just about frayed my nerves, since every once in a while I would get small chipouts.



This is my end result on a Sterling Silver/Ti. Gold Cambridge RB that I hope will be a bride's wedding pen someday.

I'm hoping that my nerves will settle long enough to turn another one. I don't have the luxury of a metal lathe. I can only wish!

Jon; You can see it isn't white. It has picked up some of the colour of the lights used to photograph it.

[wdcav1952]

I've turned a few alternative ivory from Ed4Copies, and while not the easiest material to turn, the mantra of sharp tools light cuts makes things much better.

[VisExp]

I made this pen using Alt. Ivory from Ed. I found the Alt. Ivory cut beautifully on the scroll saw. I don't remember any problems drilling or turning the pen.

[scotian12]

In October I turned 13 alternative ivory pens. The blanks came from Ed, CSUSA and Arizona Silhouette. No problem turning them if you are patient and use sharp tools. the CSUSA alternative ivory is a bit brittle and would probably be my third choice for turning. For realistic appearance of ivory my choice is the alternative ivory from AS and found in the trustone section...I'm not sure that it is trustone as it was not hard to turn.

[jttheclockman]

Keith

That is one of the nicest pens I have seen. Great work on that one. I checked your site. Other great looking pens there. You have a PM

[Rifleman1776]

Keith, very beautiful pen.

Grizz, "pale white"????

pipecrafter "shiny oak tree"???

Enneyhow, for those who have experience turning this material please explain your technique. Some say to turn slow. I don't know if they mean with patience or slow lathe speed.
Methinks that high speed, sharp tools, light touch and much patience would be required. I dunno, never tried this material. I do have another alt ivory material I'm about to turn. It might be easier. But, it may be harder. We will see.