You can find Delrin at most plastics supply companies. I used to use it occasionally to machine parts for lab apparatus. It's one of the easiest plastics to work with, except for gluing (it's a close relative of Teflon, but a lot harder). Check the Yellow Pages (or the equivalent in your country).
Caveat 1: Many of these companies deal primarily with professionals, and might have a minimum order (maybe $50 - 100). Caveat 2: The available sizes and shapes might or might not be what you want for a plectrum (and might also be vastly in excess of what you need). Alternative: if you are at, or have access to, a University, talk to someone in the machine shop (Physics typically has the best one). Machinists are packrats and hate to throw anything away, so they usually have a large stash of little odds and ends of metal and plastic. They might well have a small piece of Delrin that they could just give you. Guy -----Original Message----- From: LGS-Europe [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, June 06, 2008 2:04 PM To: lute-cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: medieval plectrum, how to make? David T. wrote: >I take the quill and iron it with a heavy iron, then shape it. First iron, or first split the feather? Feather of what bird? Do you use the tip or the end of the feather? Quill sounds like tip to me. > There are a number of other materials you can use, including thin > strips of polished wood. Thanks for the tip, I'll try. Somebody else came up with cow's bone. Why cow and not, say, sheep, pig or - why not - ancestor or slain enemy? > You can also cut a piece of delrin Where do you buy this? > It's the only thing I iron, really. I handwash my concert shirts and hang them to dry. No ironing needed. The best one already last for over 20 years. David - does iron the best blouse or skirt of his wife occasionally **************************** David van Ooijen [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.davidvanooijen.nl **************************** To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
