Category: Reviews

Pyralin – aka Ivorine or Celluloid

 

Pyralin with india ink, sharpie and oil paint
Test with India Ink, a Sharpie and oil paint
Pyralin Stain Test 2 - only the sharpie ink remained when wiping off the unscribed surface.
Only the Sharpie remained when wiping off the surface with no scribing or stippling

 

Sharpie smeared with nail polish remover
Well, that’s a mess! No nail polish remover on Pyralin.

 

Oil paint and India Ink held fast in the scimshaw and stipple
Oil paint and India Ink held fast in the scimshaw and stipple.

 

Divot of pyralin removed from sample at low setting.
Pyralin and Dremel felt polishing don’t mix when you reach the critical temperature.

 

Renaissance wax wiped away after drying left the material pretty much as it was.
Renaissance wax didn’t dissolve the pyralin.

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Pyralin is the name of a plastic created in the late 1800’s based on nitrocellulose. Nitrocellulose, also known as celluloid (see scrimshaw.com “ivory boom“), was one of the most extensively used plastics of the time. DuPont had bought the Arlington Company and used the material to replace ivory in just about every conceivable accessory of the time including combs, mirror backs, shoe horns, other personal grooming aids and beyond.

It came in a variety of colors though it was most notably used to replace ivory, so the white/cream color is what is most prevalent in the antique shops.

Pyralin was also used in the manufacture of pens, Mah Jong sets, fishing lures,

Antique pyralin commands a high price in most places, especially if it is in excellent condition. Modern pyralin is more stable, but will burn completely if it comes in contact with an open flame, burning faster than acrylic (note: most plastics will burn unless there is a flame-retardant mixed in with it).

Pyralin (at least the formulation I received) has the classic smell of camphor when it’s sanded or heated. Anyone who was in a piano store in the 1960’s or ’70’s may remember the smell (or the taste if you were young enough to still be teething and decided to gnaw on the keys).

Hardness
The material is quite flexible, and is softer than acrylic, corian and horn, but it is quite resilient.

Cutting
Using a plastic cutting tool the material cuts quite easily.  A scroll saw cuts through it easily as well, making it suitable for inlay.

Stainability
We found our sharpie again, and tested India ink, Sharpie and oil paint:
India ink and oil paint wiped away cleanly while the sharpie held fast on the polished surface. Using nail polish remover only made things worse, similar to ivory. though dulling the surface of the material as well as making a complete mess.

 

Scribing and Stippling
The material gives so easily with the Coulter Tool it is almost like pressing into icing. Placing a stipple-dot right next to it compresses the first stipple easily. This being said, the material doesn’t raise up around it so cratering is minimal. Scribing Pyralin is very easy, the material does not dust like corian, it also doesn’t leave curls like ivory.  This got me curious. I tried scratching it with my fingernail: this left no marks, which is why this material is so popular for piano keys – keratin (the material your fingernails are made of) doesn’t scratch it easily.

Polishing
Out of the box, the material has a mirror like finish. Since we’d stained the piece with the sharpie, we went ahead and sanded it down with 100,150,220,600,1000 and finally 2000 grit sandpaper and sanding pads. We were able to get close to a finish like it had originally, but it was still somewhat matte, so we brought out the dremel…

On it’s low setting, things went well until we must have reached its melting point, then things went down hill fast. The dremel slowed down and lifting it we found a divot melted into the material. We tried it a couple of more times since it was a goner anyway, the material to the left is most likely cotton fibers, a key component of pyralin/ivorine/celluloid.

Takeaway: don’t use power tools to polish.

 

Renaissance Wax
We applied a liberal coating of Renaissance wax to both the sanded and unsanded portion of our sample and let it dry thoroughly (with the help of a blow dryer set on low), The material retained its lustre, while the sanded portion appeared only slightly more polished. We’re wondering if the wax had any effect. It would of course, protect the pigment in any indentations or incisions made during the scrimshaw process.

 

Gluing
According to Mini Art Supply, the material “Can be mounted on acid-free foam core. Use 3-M Photo-Mount or 3-M Vac-U-Mount spray adhesive. These adhesives have been age-tested on Ivorine without adverse effects; other adhesives may chemically interact with the Ivorine.”

http://www.miniartsupply.biz/MiniArt-Surfaces-2.htm

Cue stick makers recommend Duro Super Glue gel.

 

Summary
Pyralin/Ivorine can be a suitable alternative material for scrimshaw as long as you are aware of the following:

  • It is softer than many plastics when it comes to scrimshaw yet it resists fingernail scratches easily
  • Oil and India ink works well
  • Do not use any solvents, especiallt nail polish remover
  • Do not power polish – hand polish only
  • Renaissance wax does not adversely affect it, and would protect the scribed portions.

Best Uses:
Smaller jewelry, inlay on top of wood boxes, small folding knives or occasional use knives where you need a thin layer of material, book marks (instead of piano ivory tails or heads).

Sources:
We purchased our material from http://www.vandaking.com, a company based in Canada with warehouses peppered throughout the US.

You can also find this material in sheet form at:
http://www.miniartsupply.biz/MiniArt-Surfaces-2.htm

You can find this material at other piano restoration companies, and you may have one nearby.

Billiard and pen making enthusiasts can find a similar material in rod form at:
http://www.cuestik.com/store/product.asp?DEPARTMENT_ID=171&ITEM_ID=5918, though we have not used this material and it may be a different formulation.  they also have “Ivorine-3” which is linen based and may be unsuitable for scrimshaw due to the fact that it has a fabric in its makeup which might wick your pigment.  At the price for even one foot of this material, we’re not ready to test it at this time.

Ending Notes
While looking for celluloid earlier this year, we found that there were next to no sources for it when searching with the exception of a few musical instrument repair sites. If you know anyone that is looking for celluloid to restore their guitar, mandolin or banjo they may want to look here. The material appears to be similar by all accounts to celluloid offered by those sites and is bright white.

Ivory Alternative: Tagua Nut

Ivory Alternative: Tagua Nut

A Renewable Resource You May Already be Wearing

tagua nut sliceTagua nuts have a varied history for the west, acting as a ballast medium for ships setting sail from South America*. This material has been popular for a long time as a substitute for ivory and has been making a comeback as a material for buttons and jewelry.  It’s also used for making carvings such as netsuke and other small adornments.  Tagua was used by the US Army during World War II for uniforms, gradually being replaced with plastics afterward.

What Is Tagua Nut?

Tagua nut is the seed of a palm known as Phytelipas Aequatoralis, it does have a distant cousin in the Solomon Islandsknown as ivory nut and Metroxylon amicorum from the Caroline Islands of Micronesia, as well as Hyphaene ventricosa from the Zambezi River of Africa*.  Tagua nut is the most plentiful and accessible. It is a dense seed that is dried then either cut or sometimes sanded and polished as is and can be found on Amazon.com.

As a wood, it is one of the densest around and inside, it has a challenging secret: there are almost always voids, so acquiring a tagua nut with the intent of slabbing it will end in a lot of waste and frustration.  On the upside, you can get them pre-cut with slabs or “potato chips” in thicknesses from 1/8″ to almost 3/8″ (3.2mm to 9.5mm).

Scrimshaw and Tagua Nut

Tagua nut polishes to a high luster and looks like a great substitute at first, and can be as long as you follow a few guidelines:

  • Sand and polish to at least 3000 grit starting at about 150 grit, first in one direction, then perpendicularly when you move to the next finer grit (up and down for 150 grit, back and forth for 300 grit, up and down for 600 grit, etc.)
  • Let it sit between steps for at least one day.  Sanding to about 1000 grit  will heat the wood making it expand slightly. If you are using machines it will probably heat it up even more (we always rough sand flat, wait a day, then progressively sand to 600 grit, wait one day, then do the final sanding to 3000 grit).
  • As you will see, HUT Wax applied with a felt wheel has given us the best results so far (yes, wait one day, polish, wait one day, then scrim)
  • India ink has a tendency to stain, using oil paint and wiping it off wet is the best way to make your scrimshaw appear.
  • Scrimshaw everything first – repeated coatings of pigments will get under even some of the best coatings and stain the micro-pores within the tagua nut. This can be tricky if you’re first starting out scrimshawing, but it will yield the best results.

A fine (000) paint brush and careful application will allow you to fill in darker areas but at this point you will need to paint carefully and let the paint dry completely, don’t try to wipe it off, since you can’t repolish once you’ve scrimshawed.

Another way around the micro-pores issue is to send your material out to have it stabilized, or stabilize it yourself.  There are several YouTube videos that show people stabilizing their own using vacuums and MinWax wood restorer.  We tried this and found the distillates disintegtrated the latex seals quickly making a sticky smelly mess (it did take a couple of days for this to occur, it wasn’t minutes), and the creamy white tagua nut turned an antique yellow.  We’ll continue to experiment, but you may also want to try sending some samples to businesses that specialize in stabilizing wood and antler.

One other idea that looked good on paper that didn’t work was to spray the tagua nut with spray varnish.  This left a film that was difficult to scrim, peeled, and ended up unsuitable.

Summary

Tagua nut can be a good eco-friendly substitute for ivory as long as precautions are taken and a commitment to scrimming once, then patiently rescrimming and only filling in the re-scrimmed areas with a small brush.

Tagua nut with India ink (top) and oil paint (bottom) applied with no scrimming
Tagua nut with India ink (top) and oil paint (bottom) applied with no scrimming
The same tagua nut that India ink and oil paint were on, wiped it away. The India ink left a stain.
Wiping away after the ink dried (the oil paint still wet) the India ink left a stain.
Polished tagua nut (center), HUT wax bar (top) and dremel felt wheel (bottom left)
Second tagua nut sample polished and buffed with HUT Wax, then left to sit for one day.

 

"OIL" scribed into tagua nut and oil paint applied then wiped away.
Tagua nut polished with HUT wax under a microscope after wiping away oil pigment.
Tagua nut under the microscope after polishing with HUT wax and india ink applied to the scribe lines. The ink penetrated the tagua creating a stained area.
Clicking on the picture will show you the staining in the micro-pores of the tagua nut by the India ink
Rose on Tagua Nut using Oil for the initial black and India Ink for the color. Test scribes below the rose
Rose on Tagua Nut using Oil for the initial black and India Ink for the Color
Archival Wax

Archival Wax

Renaissance Wax Cannister“…and coated with an archival wax…” So what is it? Archival wax is a preservative coating that protects an object from dust, dirt and fingerprints while allowing it to “breathe”.  Unlike a varnish, this type of coating does not seal the pores of wood or in our case ivory – not like a plastic coating anyway.  This fine wax coating penetrates the pores and protects the surface.  This is different from a plastic coating because it is so thin, fluctuations in barometric pressure will allow the gasses inside the pores to pass through the wax, whereas a plastic coating will inhibit this. You will also find that a varnish or urethane coating will eventually craze, archival wax will not.

“Renaissance Wax Polish will protect the surface of metals and wood from dust, fingerprints, liquids, and other environmental hazards. Renaissance wax polish was originally formulated in the British Museum research laboratories in the early 1950’s, in response to a discussion amongst museum technicians at an international conference on fine-art conservation. When applied, it creates a micro-thin, lustrous layer that enhances shine while preventing damage.”

I find this works very well as long as your piece is thoroughly dry – this is especially important when you are working with oil paint – the renaissance wax can dissolve and lift out any unhardened oil paint.  If you are working under a deadline, you may wish to use India ink as your medium since it dries much faster (hours instead of weeks).  India ink may also be helpful if you are creating scrimshaw while the customer waits – not my preferred method of scrimshaw, but not unheard of (I really don’t “pine for the good ol’ days” working in a kiosk in the mall!). Available at Amazon

Scrimshaw Tools – The Coulter Precision Scribe

Scrimshaw Tools – The Coulter Precision Scribe



close-up of the Coulter scrimshaw scribing toolThe Coulter Precision scribing tool was first brought to my attention by Bob Hergert during an interview a couple of years ago.  Since then, I had hemmed and hawed, decided that my tools work just fine, and I can sharpen mine easily as opposed to a tungsten carbide precision point that would be next to impossible to sharpen with my rudimentary drills and stones.  This internal dialog kept me away from an excellent tool for a couple of years, and if I ever find myself alone in a dark alley… Save to say, I missed out on a couple of years with an excellent tool.  The precision point is not only excellent for stippling, but the lines you create have a nice deep “V” that holds the pigment well.  I’ll try to do a comparison of the different tools I use, if I can get a good enough picture setting it on “Super Macro” – but my photography skills are mediocre at best. As a scrimshaw tool, this is one of the best you can buy.

20170708 – Update:  Charles’ Etsy site is currently empty, but the eBay site is still active: http://stores.ebay.com/coulterprecision

You can find the Coulter precision tool on Etsy