<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; cha= rset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff= f"> <DIV>Stephen,  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Are you using the linen under the ivories?  I read your email and = didn't see that you included that in your steps.  This evens out the su= rface and makes them look whiter.  Also I have found in the past that y= ou really have to keep the ivories in order.  They are probably old and= were hand finished in the first place.  Keeping them in order keeps yo= u from having the difficulty of matching the thickness of the head and tail.=   Also I would recommend not using such a heavy grit to begin with.&nbs= p; Unless a lot of material is to be removed (and keeping them in order will= minimize that), scraping with a very sharp blade will remove material witho= ut leaving scratches. I have used just a single edge razor blade. Make sure = you don't use it too long so it gets dull. Just keep changing often. Then ju= st use a very fine 400- 600 paper to smooth out.  Also I have used a to= othpaste product here called Pearl White to softly buff although a white buf= fing compound on the buffing wheel is what is used in the shop. TP</DIV></BO= DY></HTML>