Engraving in ivory?

E

Eriksen

Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
182
I know that you can make ivory softer by putting it in vinegar for a day or so and it will be more easier to engrave, but will this affect the hardness and durability of the ivory?

Is there anyone here who has some experience with that?
 
I want to engrave a whole knife handle with my cnc mill and I thought it would be better to soften the ivory in order to prevent wear and dullness of the carbide bits.
 
Real ivory is tough to come by, and it is not going to get easier, especially a chunk large enough to do a knife handle. You can mess with the hardness of a lot of natural materials, but the recurring theme with it is that you never really get back to the same item that you started. Softening wood is easy, but you risk breaking the piece if there was hidden stress and you will have to address blown grain. Animal products like horn and antler have tremendous individual variation, addressing the condition of the material at hand is part of the skill in carving it. A Cnc machine can't do that--yet--and even softening it is no guarantee of survival of the process.

CnC bits aren't cheap, but you can replace them. If the problem is the level of detail not matching your level of hand-carving skills, a workaround might be contacting an experienced ivory carver. I knew a man, long since dead now, who would carve ivory bits that people brought him for the joy of working on the material. There are still Native Alaskans and First Nation Canadians who have huge experience with ivory.
 
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