Thread: Doin the turtle dance !! (no I don't have to poop)

I thought I was wrong once, but it turned out I was mistaken.

....

I once had a JR Torrey with wonderful scales that looked like very old dark tortoise. I made the mistake of doing the hot pin test on the inside of one scale. POOOFFFF!!! a chunk vaporized instantly into noxious gas. I like Jimmy's method of microscopic examination better, as well as how it feels to the touch. Tortoise is much slicker than horn and has an inner glow. The dark areas are much larger than the golden ones. Very old tortoise loses translucence and can appear almost totally black, unless you light it properly. What I have learned.

Just took some pics of a small tin I have.
You can see the overlay technique nicely done
and the fine structure of the material on the last picture.
Its very thin. Maybe 2 mm.

excellent photos! They make me wonder how on earth the craftsmen were able to shape the sections into precisely matching curves. Also. it is apparent that there is no warping whatsoever, and I wonder what prevented that too...there must be a lot of lost arts. Thank you.

this is too thick

yes, it must be horn

dammit, I had 5 pairs already

oh well
live and learn

I have resigned myself to this being horn (and ugly horn too)
go ahead and give me negative rep for this thread
I deserve it

Originally Posted by Croaker

I once had a JR Torrey with wonderful scales that looked like very old dark tortoise. I made the mistake of doing the hot pin test on the inside of one scale. POOOFFFF!!! a chunk vaporized instantly into noxious gas. .

some guys were telling a newb in chat to poke some cell with a hot pin because he thought it was ivory

I tried to tell them this can happen, but no one ever listens to me
I once lost about 1/3 of a scale to the hot pin

Why neg rep? Its been very informative.

Too bad you guys cannot read german. I'd have a pretty long .pdf about tortoise working in the past with all the tricks like cooking it to shape it, pressing it, overlay technique, putting thin gold leaf behind to make it glow and shine (like the chest above probably has), which parts to use, where they came from, how they were traded, and, and, and...

Originally Posted by gratewhitehuntr

some guys were telling a newb in chat to poke some cell with a hot pin because he thought it was ivory

I tried to tell them this can happen, but no one ever listens to me
I once lost about 1/3 of a scale to the hot pin

Some people have to learn the hard way, including me. I laughed at my collection of safety pins last night: I don't need them anymore to test scales. But I did ruin 2 pairs with the "hot pin" test. Was there a noise when your celluloid vaporized? Mine made a high pitched death squeal. I think it came close to burning up in my hand!

Originally Posted by gratewhitehuntr

this is too thick

yes, it must be horn

dammit, I had 5 pairs already

oh well
live and learn

I have resigned myself to this being horn (and ugly horn too)
go ahead and give me negative rep for this thread
I deserve it

Polished horn is one of my favorite scale materials-that and bone. Aesthetically superior to any plastic, in my opinion. Don't knock your excellent razors!

well it turns out I am an idiot

how the heck do you get so excited that you go blind??