Mammoth Ivory Help

Pittknife

Pittknife

Joined
Oct 1, 2013
Messages
901
Hi All,

I've only worked with MOP as a natural material for handles and I am building a knife with mammoth ivory scales right now.

I can't find any information about cutting the scales down with an endmill, has anyone done this? The stock material is .4" and I need to get it to about .1", I was hoping to be able to just machine it down. Thanks for all the help.
 
Hang in there Mike. I'm sure Nathan has done this many times and will pop in to tell you how to go about doing it. All my work on mammoth is done with my grinders and the usual follows.
Frank
 
For stuff that thick I use a table saw with a thin kerf blade to saw up mammoth ivory. That way you'll have 2, maybe 3 slabs from the .4" thick slab.

Ken H>
 
I use my band saw. Glue the ivory block to a piece of 2X4 and slice pieces off using the rip fence.
 
I'll elaborate on a safety and accuracy tip on cutting odd or fragile things. The band saw is champs for smooth and heat free cutting or most everything. The circular saw is champs for ripping flat, straight, thinner things.

Trying to hold curved or thin stuff in your hands on either type saw is a fools task ... and can easily end up with a damaged blade or damaged fingers. The piece being cut is often ruined, too.

To cut odd shapes or thinner things safely and accurately on the band saw, make a sled. It can be a disposable sled made from a 2X4 or scrap lumber, or a more complicated sled with clamps and places to screw logs on it.

The basic way to cut a piece of stag or mammoth is to epoxy it to a 2X4 and then slice the piece right down the 2X4. Sliced can be cut repeatedly on wider stuff by epoxying it on a slab of straight wood and using the rip fence to make the cuts.

A snakewood or olive wood log can be screwed or glued to a 2X8 and sliced up easily into perfect 2" slabs.

A carbide tipped, 3-4 tooth, band saw blade ... like a wood-master by Lenox ... is the best blade for these tasks.
 
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