Check out my jumbo nuts

[Buggs]

Tagua nuts

It's called vegetable ivory. Comes from South American Palm trees. It's an acceptable substitute for real Ivory, if you like that look.
They aren't big, so only good for inlays and tip overlays. I've seen where people have carved thumb rings from it also.
Interesting stuff. It has some faint graining and it takes on a nice patina with age. It looks more like Ivory than any other imitation material I have seen.

[Mad Max]

How hard are they?
can you eat them?

[onetone]

Interesting and new to me. Where did you get them? Would’ve liked something in the photo like a ruler or a set of car keys to give a sense of size.

[beachbowhunter]

The use them for buttons on sustainable clothing too....

[Buggs]

How hard are they?
can you eat them?

They are pretty damn hard. I don't know how they rate on a comparative scale, but they are as hard as acrylic or polycarbonate plastic. Cutting them reminds me of cutting soft rock, like Marble or Limestone with a hacksaw.

I have no idea how or if its possible to eat them! Could be some regional process to make them edible??

Interesting and new to me. Where did you get them? Would’ve liked something in the photo like a ruler or a set of car keys to give a sense of size.

First thing I thought after posting was including a ruler
You can get these from any number of sources. Ebay, Etsy, etc...

[Mad Max]

 

[onetone]

Thanks! They really are jumbo.

[B-JS]

Nice.
Used them in my primitive bow days as "vegan" ivory.
Very durable, never had an issue with stability.

[KenH]

The Ivory Nut Palm is endemic to the Pacific islands and was transplanted to South America back in the 1800s.   When I live out on Kwajalein Atoll there was a lot of Marshallese crafts people on neighboring atolls who carved pendants and all sorts of things from the nut.  The nuts are formed inside a 'coconut' instead of the coconut meat around the inside of the shell.  The older the coconut before harvesting, the small the nut, but the more dense it is.

[Mad Max]

Do you have any pictures of it finished on a bow?

Is it hard enough to use on horn bows, it's used in the center of the riser to butt the horn against.
Ivory was used back in the day.
=============|================
       horn               Ivory             horn

[Buggs]

I don't have a pic. Maybe B-JS does?

These specs are interesting;

[Appalachian Hillbilly]

Limb tips?

[Buggs]

Limb tips?

Thats what I was thinking   I like doing inlays, and this stuff looks great in some dark wood.

I suppose it's not "trad"   

But for those of us who like the unusual, this material is fun to play with