It might be quite difficult to match – 'white' piano keys ain't all the same colour by any manner o' means. I remember once trying to do a refurb on an upright.

Brother is piano tuner. He'd seriously disagree reckoning that there are far too many old wrecks out there that got overlooked.

"Only want a cheap piano for the kids to learn on!" is approximately equivalent to taking a blow torch to the blue touch paper at the business end of a Saturn 5.

Getting back to the OPs question there is very little chance of getting a good colour match between cribbage board and piano keys. The ageing / discolouration rate is very different. Maybe if he did it all from keys salvaged from one piano. I'll ask him what, if anything, he has later.

Clive

Hi Martin

Second hand antique and brick-a-brac shops often have boxes of unmatched old knives with various bone or bone like handles, maybe a couple of the right colour and texture could be found and thin slices cut from them to make the inlay. They should not cost a lot if the blade is worn or corroded you are only after the handle.

Regards
John

Edited By John McNamara on 14/12/2017 05:20:49

John beat me to it, I repaired a chess piece using the material from the handle of an old knife & it was a good match and no Elephants were harmed in this repair !

Twenty years ago I helped rebuild and install a pipe organ in our church, the ivory disc in the end of one of the knobs for the stops was missing, the organ builder was able to match the colour, and grain of the ivory with the other stops, then engrave the name of the stop, and once fitted you would not know which were old, and which were new. The new insert is plastic, I don't know what type, but it is of similar consistency to ivory.

Ian S C

"Only two major exemptions will be allowed – musical instruments and historic or artistic artefacts."

It would be appalling if all the old objects that contain ivory were destroyed in an another misguided attempt to impose today's morality on the past.

The next thing you know we will be destroying statues of Nero…

Martin, have you got a photo of the offending piece and size needed, i have a load of mammoth ivory that i use in my work ,including thin flat pieces which are of little use to me .It varies from almost white to dark yellow cream.

Simple. Just do what the chinese do now when making modern mahjong sets. Polished cow bone.

.

**LINK**

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-sets-out-plans-for-ivory-ban

Source of actual information ^^^

MichaelG.

.

For convenient navigation, here is a link to the consultation page:

https://consult.defra.gov.uk/international/banning-uk-sales-of-ivory/

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 16/12/2017 13:04:38

Martin King 2:

Not sure if you posted the excellent photos in response to my request but many thanks for them anyway. Previously, I had only ever seen the rectangular style which is probably more convenient in pubs where space may be limited

Beware Martin!

By using black paint on a white material, someone will accuse you of being racialist or colonialist. "You're only doing it because of the colour"

But if everything a uniform brown, even that will be a racialist slur, because of your choice!

Someone will be determined to be offended, no matter what you say or do.

As a friend says "Common sense is not that common anymore"

Howard