Perhaps the nuts you obtained were old? I haven't had either problem
working with them.

-Keith

On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 07:37:02 GMT, "res055a5" wrote:

i've been making pens for a little while now and have been asked questions
about using tagua nuts (natural fake ivory)
for making bands around the middle. one fellow was having two problems with
them...1. they seem to crack a lot. and
2. they chip when being turned. they sand just fine. we tried normal super
glue, but that didn't help the crack problem.
we put the band on the brass tube with 5 minute epoxy...could it be heating
up too much and causing the cracking? Could
chatter while the band is being turned cause the chipping and cracking both?
Any ideas?
rich