several questions about mammoth ivory

R

rmd

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Can anybody recommend good sources for mammoth ivory slabs? What should I look for (or look out for) when buying slabs online or mail order when I can't see them in person first? Does mammoth ivory need to be stabilized or sealed with something? What about mammoth tooth? Thanks.

rmd
 
http://www.boonetrading.com/index.html

You are looking for a nice piece that isnt porous or brittle. Much as you would look for bone or antler. If it is to porous or in poor shape it may look ok as a mammoth tooth on the shelf but wont do so well for handles. Regular mammoth ivory can be treated like normal ivory if I am not mistaken. Fossilized ivory may have some different properties when worked, maybe someone else can chime in on that. I haven t seen alot of slabs around but teeth and sections are easy to find.

That link I posted has ivory working tips and info as well. Also I forgot that mammoth ivory will only be had in some sort of fossilization (sometimes I forget the most obvious things hehe, not to many fresh mammoth tusk lately) or at least what the call fossilized, I know its not a true type of fossil.
 
Thank you. Rereading my own words, I realize I misspoke. Where I wrote "slabs," I was really thinking "scales" i.e. pieces around 5 x 1.5 inches. Sorry for the lack of precision.

rmd
 
buy cheap initially, you are goin to ruin some, it's the price you pay to learn. You can have it stabilized if you like. If you get a piece that is cracked or weak, use thin super glue and let it wick into the cracks. Drill with sharp bits like wood. Use a scrap piece of wood backer to prevent breakout when drilling through. When grinding it, don't get it hot. The hotter it gets, the more it moves and you will never get it flat. You won't ruin it getting hot grinding, it just keeps curling away from the heat and then when it cools it curls back and it's bowed. After all that, it's a gas to work with and very rewarding when you get a nice set of scales mounted and the knife finished.
 
You can find lots of scales and tusk sections on ebay. You will notice that the scales seem over priced as compaired to the tusk sections/pieces. However, if you buy the sections and cut them your self you will see why the pre-cut scale are expensive... there is a lot of waste.
I like to let fossil ivory cure for at least a year before I use it. Some of it has not been out of the ground too long and if you use it before it is fully cured you will get a lot of shrinking after a month or two.

You might want to check here also: http://ivoryworksltd.net/index.php

Jim
 
Has anyone looked at www.kowakivory.com. Roland Quimby goes to Alaska each summer and handpicks the ivory he then cuts for sale. Super nice guy and sure to do you right. Mike
 
If you can arrange a trip to Fairbanks or Anchorage, you can have your pick of ivory in many colors and sizes. Of course, you'll have to do all the work of turning it into scales. It was at $70 per pound about a year ago. I'm not sure what the price is up to now. I can usually get about 5 handles worth of bark ivory and 5 more handles of the whiter inner ivory out of a 1.5 lb. tusk piece.
 
As has been said, the key is NOT to get it hot.

Work it slowly with fresh, sharp belts.

Tom
 
Thanks all. I'll give Kowak a call some time this week. Nothing currently on his website as big as 5 inches (nor at Banyan Bay) but what he does show looks knockout, much better than I've seen on Ebay so far.

rmd
 
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