working with Gutta percha

[Rmhisteach]

Pards and Comrades,

I have been reading the Immortal Captives book in preperation for the I-600 Living History event and came upon a number of citations of prisoners using and or recylcing gutta percha for use in making jewelry etc. I used the search and found little . Is anyone using Gutta Percha to make items? Is it availible? Has anyone worked with it before?


RM

[Becky Morgan]

Re: working with Gutta percha

I posted this just before the most recent crash; forgive me if it's a duplicate. Hickory golf reenactors still use gutty balls. I wouldn't buy new ones to whittle, at $5.50 apiece, but if you explain your needs to the folks at Oakhurst Links (an 1884 course) they may have broken or otherwise damaged balls lying around. It's 1-888-625-1884 or oakhurstlinks.com. A piece of gutty ball would likely be big enough for a whittled ring, watch fob or other small item (a standard ball is 1.68" in diameter.)

Dental supply places do have gutta percha, but it's in very small bits meant to seal root chambers after a root canal. Offhand, I don't think there's any other modern use for gutta percha.

--Becky Morgan

[Hank Trent]

Re: working with Gutta percha

At the last I-600 I made a ring from a hard rubber comb, which would be one available prison source for a material within the category of gutta percha. Worked well. Because there was no fire allowed at the event and I wasn't sure a candle would be a large enough heating surface, I started at home with a modern black comb labelled hard rubber. Heated it over a stove burner until the spine was soft and shaped it into a circle, tapering the edges and overlapping them like forge welding an iron ring. The smell is not as bad as you'd expect. If you wanted to do this at the event, you could experiment to see if the heat of a candle is enough.

Once the basic ring shape was created, it's a matter of using a hacksaw and/or small knife to carve off what's left of the melted teeth, saw it top and bottom so it's thin and smooth, and carve out any unevenness, as well as carving a design if you want to get fancy.

For tools, I brought a piece of broken hacksaw blade about 3" long and a little pointed woodcarving knife blade. As I recall, the latter was also in demand with the fellows who were making buttons from shells, to drill the holes.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net