Pretty stuff,but..................

[Deweyknives]

I have a few pieces of mamouth tooth and ivory. All was purchased stabilized from a reputable source. My scales are warping and the tooth is delaminating and seperating. It came wraped in paper towel and sealed in zip-lock bags, so that's the way I left it. It's been in the house so temps have'nt been extreme.

I knew this stuff was fragil and not for heavy use, but now I'm reluctant to use it at all. If it falls apart just looking at it, how's it going to survive on a knife??

How do you store this stuff so it's not just pretty little pieces of expensive???

 

[Kevin Cross]

I have used a far amount of mammoth ivory and tooth and have many slabs of each, some stabilized and some not. Some of my stock is going on five years old with no problems. Mine are just stoed in a box in my shop. I suspect humidity might be part of your problem but if they were properly stabilized this should not matter. Not all stabilizing is the same. Maybe some one with more experience will chime in here.
KDC

 

[Daemon]

Is it possible they were near a radiator or other heating device and got hotter than you thought? If they were sealed up in zip loc bags that could have added to the problem?
I've had a full tusk and a couple teeth sitting in my shop for about a year with no warping or delamination. Open to the air though.

Grant