Engraving vegetable ivory (Tauga nuts)

[Roger Lueck]

Does anyone have some initial power (%) and speed settings (mm/sec) for engraving vegetable ivory (Tauga nuts) using a Chinese 50 watt laser?

Thank You,
Roger

[Gary Hair]

Like any new material, high speed, low power and increase power until you get the desired results. If you get to full power before that happens then start reducing speed. If you have full power and the lowest speed and still no results then it isn't going to work with that material.

p.s. They are actually Tagua and if you search here you'll find a few results.

[Mike Null]

Being an organic material, tagua is not uniform so one setting probably won't work for all pieces. More reason to follow Gary's advice to "sneak up" on the settings.

[Roy Sanders]

I am so new, I guess, that I have no idea what these look like,will you post a picture for me?

[Gary Hair]

I am so new, I guess, that I have no idea what these look like,will you post a picture for me?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=tagua+nuts

[David Somers]

Morning Roy!

Tagua is a Tropical nut with a white meat to it. It carves and turns nicely. I have never tried running it through a laser. It is often used as an ivory look alike for small pieces like accents on a wood piece or as an ivory substitute in jewelry. Fun stuff to play with. With a little playing you could incorporate it into your pen designs. But I think an ivory colored Corian might be a better option unless you simply want the "cachet" of using Tagua. It sounds much more exotic to say your pen is made from a fine, sustainably harvested fair trade Granadillo Wood from the lush forests of the Yucatan contrasted with subtle accents of Bolivian grown Tagua Nut than to say your pen is made from Walnut and Dow Corian. <grin>

If you want to try turning it you can get some from Rockler or Woodcraft or any carving supplier.