Mammoth tooth

K

kvolle

Joined
Jan 24, 2008
Messages
123
To all those that work with this material, I would like to ask your advice. I came into a 4" x 3 3/4" x 3/4". It's a perfect piece and depending on the way it is cut i could get several scales for full tang or more for folder scales.
Here is the problem; I have never worked with this material before and I am not sure how to cut, shape or polish it. I have all the tools necessary to work with wood, micarta, bone and antler. However I do not know if these tools will work and I do not want to screw this up. It is the same consistancy as rock (fossilized). Do i need special lapidary equipment or can I use the tools I have.
Just in case you ask here is a list of tools that I have; Drill press, serveral grinders, Sanding wheel, sanding disk, dremel, chop saw, vertical band saw, hand held gringing wheel, compound miter saw, several buffers and several drills and hammer drills. I even have a tile saw if that helps.
Can I do this with the tools I have? I really hope so I am dying to get started.
 
Thanks Silver Pilate. I appreciate you directing me to the link. I know I will hate myself but I'm going to try it and hope for the best. I can't just let it sit in the shop without trying. I guess i'll work as slowly as possible and try not to ruin what is right now a beautiful piece. Well I guess I won't get anywhere gabbing here. Thanks for the help and wish me luck.
 
I’ve used Mammoth tooth several times and I can tell you that it is your worst nightmare for a handle material. But, it is possible to use it well if you follow a few guidelines. The white streaks are extremely hard and the material in the middle is very soft. It is brittle and the slabs will break easily with pressure or vibration from working.

You can cut it with a fine tooth bi-metallic metal cutting band saw. Go slow through the hard spots and be prepared to ease up on the pressure as the blade comes through the hard area so that you don’t zip through the soft area and miss your cut line.

Try to lay out your pin holes so that they are placed in the soft material. The hard material will deflect a drill bit and cause your pin holes to be angled. I have found no way to drill holes without chipping out on the back side of the material. Backing the mammoth tooth doesn’t seem to help much. I have clamped it to a steel plate for drilling and it still chips. I think that the pressure from the drill bit crushes the material as it exits the back. The bit will enter the material with much less chipping, so I try to drill pin holes from what will be the outside of the handle slab. If you must have the bit exit the outside, then you have to plan for enough material to be removed in the shaping of the handle to get below the chipped out area.

It is possible to mill it with a carbide end mill, but it is very difficult. I made a hidden tang knife with mammoth tooth once. I can usually mill the mortises in handle slabs in less than 20 minutes. It took me 3 ½ hours to mill them in mammoth tooth. The end mill would squeal when it got into the hard material. If I pushed it too hard, it would start to smoke. The slabs also broke repeatedly from the pressure of the end mill and required that I stop and glue them back together.

Use silicon carbide belts for grinding. It grinds pretty well with SC and doesn’t even heat up much. But, minimize any slack belt work as the soft material will undercut and the surface will become wavy. 400g gives a good finish and then you can buff the material; again being careful not to undercut the soft areas.

Good luck!!
 
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