Elephant ivory

[DCBluesman]

I'm looking for some advice, words of wisdom, cautions, etc. on turning elephant ivory centerbands and pens. Does anyone out there either have experience or a link to an article on turning this material? [8D]

 

[Guest]

Hven't turned any elephant ivory but do a lot of deer antler.Don't know how much different it is.
Have scrimshawed walrus tusk.
Whatchaneedtaknow?

 

[darbytee]

Lou, Contact David Borek by telephone regarding the elephant ivory. We talked about it one day and he seemed very knowledgable on the subject. I have some pre-ban ivory also but haven't found the right project to use it in.

 

[chgrjim]

I'm assuming you already have the ivory. For those who don't actually have ivory, or are morally against trying to get any, has anybody tried American White Holly? I have found it to be one of the easiest woods to turn and polish. No health risks, no customs problems,[], and a beautiful piece of work.

JIM

 

[DCBluesman]

I'll give David a call. I owe him one anyway. As for the ivory, it's documented as pre-1970. There were a couple of small pieces in an estate sale that included the tusk which had been obtained in the late 1930's. What I'm attemting to find out is are there special concerns in turning it. As for the particulate being a health concern, thanks for the heads up. I've learned to use a mask for just about everything I do with exotics and with solvent based finishing products.

Talking about American holly, it is indeed a beautiful white wood with almost no visible grain. I've turned several pens from it. Another choice for white pen material is white aspen, another nearly grainless wood. They both make nice wedding pens.

 

[Efletche]

I have been debating on doing a pen out of ivory as well. One of our physicians is a game hunter and has brought back several elephant tusks from Africa the last couple years. He says the ivory turns and carves very nicely. I suppose if you wanted to find out how easily, you could contact http://www.cuecomponents.com/ They sell ivory for pool cues and it is turned already. They would surely know how difficult it is to work with.

 

[Vern]

just got some "ivory susbstitute" from CS, it's ok to turn and with a little coloring/texturing work I think could be an ok material. only thing I noticed is that it seems to be rather translucent next to the ebony end pieces ( yes I was going for an Ebony and Ivory theme[V])

Next try I'm going to sand everything to 1200 or so and then go back with 220 or 320 and put some lines along the long axis of the ivory to try and simulate the grain of the natural, then do the dye, then final finishing. CS suggested using tea to color the material. Remains to be seen.

Vern

Here's a pic

 

[patarini]

Dont heat the ivory up! Might get surface cracks! About all that I can worn you about. Here is a link to some instructions -- hope it helps! http://www.boonetrading.com/WorkingInstructions.html greg

 

[wayneis]

Try spraying you tubes with white rust-O-leum and it should'nt be as translucent. I do a lot of acrylics, celluloids, Poly Gems etc. and I spray paint all my tubes because I don't care for the translucent look.

Wayne

 

[DCBluesman]

That is an extremely helpful link. Thanks! [8D]

Originally posted by patarini
<br />Dont heat the ivory up! Might get surface cracks! About all that I can worn you about. Here is a link to some instructions -- hope it helps! http://www.boonetrading.com/WorkingInstructions.html greg