A strange request perhaps.
SWMBO has tasked me to convert a clean, blown, natural ostrich egg into a
container for a specific purpose.
The egg is approx. 6.5 x 5.0 inches (165 x 127mm) and 2-3 mm thick. Makes
the eyes water just thinking about it!
Can be cut either longways or sideways.
As this is a one-off and we only have 1 egg, I would like to get it right
first time. Also only a week to produce the finished article, to include
hinge, fastener, turned base etc.
Any experience or thoughts on such stupidity please?

I have a decent range of hand & power tools but have never worked on
anything this fragile.

Many thanks

Nick.

On Thu, 2 Jun 2005 20:23:31 +0100, "Nick" <nobody> babbled
like a waterfall and said:

>A strange request perhaps.
>SWMBO has tasked me to convert a clean, blown, natural ostrich egg into a
>container for a specific purpose.
>The egg is approx. 6.5 x 5.0 inches (165 x 127mm) and 2-3 mm thick. Makes
>the eyes water just thinking about it!
>Can be cut either longways or sideways.
>As this is a one-off and we only have 1 egg, I would like to get it right
>first time. Also only a week to produce the finished article, to include
>hinge, fastener, turned base etc.
>Any experience or thoughts on such stupidity please?
>
>I have a decent range of hand & power tools but have never worked on
>anything this fragile.
>
>Many thanks
>
>Nick.
>
Yes, first make up a sand bed for the egg. Make a hole in the sand to
support the egg and then score around the line to be cut with a
Stanley knife. This is S l o w a n d g e n t l e stuff. Then use a
fine toothed tenon saw. The idea is lots of scratching rather than
sawing.

HTH

dissolve the egg in vinegar, the shell will go soft, cut in half(it
won't break), then put in a solution of calium carbonate to get the
shell back hard.

On Thu, 2 Jun 2005 20:23:31 +0100, "Nick" <nobody> wrote:

>SWMBO has tasked me to convert a clean, blown, natural ostrich egg into a
>container for a specific purpose.

First thing is to get some Vicks and a dustmask (think Altern8) You
don't want to smell this stuff as you work on it, it's _horrible_.

Then get your Dremel and a cutting disk, big as possible. Make a Dremel
stand - boxed up MDF and tie-wraps to hold it is fine, just make sure
the Dremel disk is horizontal and you can change disks as needed.

Now make an egg cradle, from MDF, corugated cardboard, foamboard, or
whatever you have.

Make the height of both cradles so that the egg meets the Dremel disk
where needed. Use masking tape to stop the egg moving in the cradle.

Now place both stands onto a flat workbench, power up and slowly rotate
the egg against the disk. It cuts slowly but easily. Work round
gradually, so that you cut almost all the way through around the whole
egg, before you start breaking through in any spot.

If you happen to have a glass cutting ring saw (diamond grit on metal)
then I believe you can just slam them straight through an ostrich egg.
Haven't tried that though (yet).

Andy Dingley wrote:
> Then get your Dremel and a cutting disk, big as possible. Make a Dremel
> stand - boxed up MDF and tie-wraps to hold it is fine, just make sure
> the Dremel disk is horizontal and you can change disks as needed.
>
> Now make an egg cradle, from MDF, corugated cardboard, foamboard, or
> whatever you have.
>
> Make the height of both cradles so that the egg meets the Dremel disk
> where needed. Use masking tape to stop the egg moving in the cradle.
>
> Now place both stands onto a flat workbench, power up and slowly rotate
> the egg against the disk. It cuts slowly but easily. Work round
> gradually, so that you cut almost all the way through around the whole
> egg, before you start breaking through in any spot.

And run the dremel on slowest speed?

In message <3g94d1Fbc185U1>, Nick <nobody>
writes
>A strange request perhaps.
>SWMBO has tasked me to convert a clean, blown, natural ostrich egg into a
>container for a specific purpose.
>The egg is approx. 6.5 x 5.0 inches (165 x 127mm) and 2-3 mm thick. Makes
>the eyes water just thinking about it!
>Can be cut either longways or sideways.
>As this is a one-off and we only have 1 egg, I would like to get it right
>first time. Also only a week to produce the finished article, to include
>hinge, fastener, turned base etc.
>Any experience or thoughts on such stupidity please?
>
>I have a decent range of hand & power tools but have never worked on
>anything this fragile.
>Maybe masking tape around the axis, draw the line where you're going to
cut, and get your dremel out

You might want to think about filling it with jelly to give it some body
and absorb the vibrations

otherwise ... an angle grinder

In message <1117741966.571926.148410>,
lovemandude writes
>dissolve the egg in vinegar, the shell will go soft, cut in half(it
>won't break), then put in a solution of calium carbonate to get the
>shell back hard.
>
Cunning ...

does it work ?

In message <1117741966.571926.148410>,
lovemandude writes
>dissolve the egg in vinegar, the shell will go soft, cut in half(it
>won't break), then put in a solution of calium carbonate to get the
>shell back hard.
>
I do hope the money making spam post I just saw really wasn't from you

"raden" <raden> wrote in message
news:fwfj
> In message <1117741966.571926.148410>,
> lovemandude writes
>>dissolve the egg in vinegar, the shell will go soft, cut in half(it
>>won't break), then put in a solution of calium carbonate to get the
>>shell back hard.
>>
> Cunning ...
>
> does it work ?

No.

"Nick" <nobody> wrote in message
news:85u1
> A strange request perhaps.
> SWMBO has tasked me to convert a clean, blown, natural ostrich egg into a
> container for a specific purpose.
> The egg is approx. 6.5 x 5.0 inches (165 x 127mm) and 2-3 mm thick. Makes
> the eyes water just thinking about it!
> Can be cut either longways or sideways.
> As this is a one-off and we only have 1 egg, I would like to get it right
> first time. Also only a week to produce the finished article, to include
> hinge, fastener, turned base etc.
> Any experience or thoughts on such stupidity please?
>
> I have a decent range of hand & power tools but have never worked on
> anything this fragile.
>
> Many thanks
>
> Nick.
>
I normally just boil them for an hour or so, then tap the top off with a big
spoon. Loverly with toasted soldiers of wholemeal bread and a little salt.
MMmmmmmmmm. :-)

On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 20:58:50 GMT, Chris Hodges <chris_hodges>
wrote:

>And run the dremel on slowest speed?

No, run it on the fastest speed compatible with the rating of your
abrasive disks.

"BigWallop" <spamguard> wrote in message
news:4231
>
> "Nick" <nobody> wrote in message
> news:85u1
> > A strange request perhaps.
> > SWMBO has tasked me to convert a clean, blown, natural ostrich egg into
a
> > container for a specific purpose.
> > The egg is approx. 6.5 x 5.0 inches (165 x 127mm) and 2-3 mm thick.
Makes
> > the eyes water just thinking about it!
> > Can be cut either longways or sideways.
> > As this is a one-off and we only have 1 egg, I would like to get it
right
> > first time. Also only a week to produce the finished article, to include
> > hinge, fastener, turned base etc.
> > Any experience or thoughts on such stupidity please?
> >
> > I have a decent range of hand & power tools but have never worked on
> > anything this fragile.
> >
> > Many thanks
> >
> > Nick.
> >
> >
>
> I normally just boil them for an hour or so, then tap the top off with a
big
> spoon. Loverly with toasted soldiers of wholemeal bread and a little
salt.
> MMmmmmmmmm. :-)
>
This is better...

http://www.blogjam.com/2005/05/15/scotch-ostrich-egg/

"Timfy" <timfy> wrote in message
news:3868
>
> "BigWallop" <spamguard> wrote in message
> news:4231
> >
> > "Nick" <nobody> wrote in message
> > news:85u1
> > > A strange request perhaps.
> > > SWMBO has tasked me to convert a clean, blown, natural ostrich egg
into
> a
> > > container for a specific purpose.
> > > The egg is approx. 6.5 x 5.0 inches (165 x 127mm) and 2-3 mm thick.
> Makes
> > > the eyes water just thinking about it!
> > > Can be cut either longways or sideways.
> > > As this is a one-off and we only have 1 egg, I would like to get it
> right
> > > first time. Also only a week to produce the finished article, to
include
> big
> salt.
>
> This is better...
>
> [..]
>LOL Like it lots.

Phoarrrrrr!!!! My mouth waters as we speak. The breeds awready buttert
mate. :-) LOL

Cutting an ostrich egg...

There is one, and probably only one, safe clean solution. Use
hydrochloric acid to dissolve the shell along the desired cut line.
Obviously I mean put it only where you want to lose the shell, if you
dunked the egg in HCl youd have no more egg.

A fairly fine pointed applicator would be wanted, and not metal...

Tesco limescale removing bog cleaner would do it, or brick acid.


NT

Nick wrote:

> A strange request perhaps.
> SWMBO has tasked me to convert a clean, blown, natural ostrich egg into a
> container for a specific purpose.
> The egg is approx. 6.5 x 5.0 inches (165 x 127mm) and 2-3 mm thick. Makes
> the eyes water just thinking about it!
> Can be cut either longways or sideways.
> As this is a one-off and we only have 1 egg, I would like to get it right
> first time. Also only a week to produce the finished article, to include
> hinge, fastener, turned base etc.
> Any experience or thoughts on such stupidity please?
>
> I have a decent range of hand & power tools but have never worked on
> anything this fragile.
>

You need something like a dremel with a cut-off wheel

Basically a very small fine angle grinder..
[..]