Custom ivory handled knives

[lonedragon50]

Hey guys, new here.

I've been thinking lately of making a custom knife with a blank blade and an ivory (warthog or hippo tusks) handle. I can order the tusks from a large shop in St. Augustine, FL, and blanks from elsewhere. I want to make something like these:
https://www.google.com/search?q=war...WoVChMI6IaZnMD9xwIVQaKACh3VCQ17&dpr=1#imgrc=_

I have a (theoretically) simple plan for doing so. I'm wondering if I can obtain a bolster and a blank, cut the tang (I have a friend who can do this) to whatever length I need it to be, and use epoxy to secure the blade into the hollow of the tusks. Also can I use Gorilla super glue to "cure" the ivory? Here's another inspiration for this:
http://californiacustomknives.blogspot.com/2011/11/out-of-africa-warthog-tusk-knives.html

The only rub is I have no experience whatsoever in such things. But I REALLY want a knife like this and have no idea how to contact someone who can specifically work ivory (though I have heard working ivory is similar to hardwood). Any advice/explicit instruction would be much appreciated.

 

[Eric@DLT]

I would suggest starting with a handle material that is cheaper to buy and try that out. You can buy stick tang knife blanks for very cheap and use some white tail antler instead. This will allow you to get a feel for the process before trying to make your perfect knife the first time.

 

[BladeCommander]

Agree with the above post.
Practice makes perfect, and the more you try, the better it will look when you get to the premium materials. I would start out slow, full tang handles with scales are the easiest to make, but stick tangs look pretty straight forward. Never done anything but full tang myself.