Ivory from Potatoes?

Mike Hull · Jan 5, 2001

Sometime between 1986&1988,I cut out a small blurb from the front section of a Scientific American magazine,"A substance resembling Ivory of creamy whiteness and great hardness is made from good potatoes washed in diluted sulphuric acid,then boiled in the same solution until they become solid and dense.They are then washed free from the acid and slowly dried."I mentioned this to a couple of people in the knife industry around 1989,and i got the impression they thought i was pulling their leg,I was'nt and am not now.Has anyone else heard of this,or know of any ongoing work in this area.It sounds like an excellent candidate for handle matl.,without a lot of the toxic fumes& dust of Micarta and the like.

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MJH

Rob! · Jan 5, 2001

Presuming you aren't kidding, the novely could be interesting. I wonder if WSSI has any experience stabilizing potatoes.

The possibilities are staggering. Burl potato with lots of eyes..... Curly potato handles processed from ruffles potato chips. Potato mosaic bolsters made from layers of soft and hard spuds differentially etched in the sulphuric acid.

Survival knives with edible handles!!!

OK....I'm done.... hee hee hawwwww!!!!!

Rob!

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Rob Ridley
Ranger Original Handcrafted Knives

tom mayo · Jan 5, 2001

I am not sure if elephants eat potatoes!

Mike Hull · Jan 5, 2001

Honestly, I am not kidding,I still have the cut out from the mag.

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MJH

steve porter · Jan 5, 2001

MJH

Mate If you have a copy of that article I would like to get a copy of it somehow. OR IF YOU COULD tell me what magazine it was in I may be able to get a back issue.
Because from what you say here the possibilities are endless.
Goodluck
Steve

Marcel J.B. Morin · Jan 5, 2001

I would like a copy of that article also.

Thanks.

Marcel

Bob Lyon · Jan 5, 2001

Take a look at this group of messages concerning ivory substitutes. Way down in it is this:
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Well, according to a book I got from Lindsay Technical Books,you can make an acceptable ivory substitute if you:

"masticate" potatoes for 3 days in sulferic acid, dry between two pieces of blotting paper, and subject to great pressure.

I suspect this is designed for flat bits to go on pianos, but if you've got something to use as a mold.....
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The link is:
http://www.florilegium.org/files/CRAFTS/ivory-msg.html
Then do a "find in page" for potatoes.

So the info is real and is out there somewhere besides Scientific American.

Besides the little bit of potato ivory information, there's some pretty decent stuff on other ivory substitutes.

It sure would be something to tell your customer that that shiny handle is made from No. 1 Idahos.

Bob

Fox Creek · Jan 6, 2001

I too have seen similar formulas in old books. But think about it folks, Potatoe is mostly starch, and cellulose; add nitric acis and compress. the result must be very near to 19th century CELLULOID,or at least its precurser)... Cellulose Nitrate,notoriously unstable, which was succeded by cellulose acetate,more stable stuff, as cellulose nitrate is also "Gun Cotton" or the stuff of single base smokeless gunpowder. I'd be careful making any kind of nitrated vegetable something!