Soaking ivory in vinegar.

L6steel

L6steel

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Sep 23, 1999
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I was watching a show in the Discovery channel today about the 7 wonders of the world and one of them was a statue of Zeus that was made completely out of elephant ivory. I was floored since the thing is like 50 feet tall. The guy that was talking about how the statue was constructed mentioned some ancient secrets thats were used to make the ivory soft and pliable so it could be peeled like the rings of a tree and then clamped in a mold and dried to shape. Once dried it held it's shape and stayed hard. He mentioned a couple of the methods and said they were not easy or were dangerous and then found out that they also soaked the ivory in vinegar to get the same results so he gave it a try and said it worked fine. Has anyone tried this to flatten ivory for scales or even to get a greater yield per tusk for knife handles? Sure sounds like it would save a lot of waste over cutting and sanding to get the stuff flat enough to use.
 
Michael, I think they were speculating on the method of forming Ivory. As far as I know, no written record of how the ancients did that, exists. And he is talking about, getting the same results from vinegar!? I would be skeptical of long term durability. I can't see vinegar(ascetic acid) as being good for Ivory.
I bet the statue was impressive in it's day though.:eek:
 
it will soften an egg shell they say..
yes,, I'd be interested in what happens to it too?:)
 
The guy wasn't speculating, he actually tried the method and said it worked. It breaks down some of the calcium or something in the ivory and makes it pliable. If I had some uncut ivory I would give it a try with a small piece.
 
I've never tried ivory but I have used this method to straighten stag sticks before. Just soak the antler in vinegar for 24 hours or so, put it in a vice and crank down on it until it's straight. Let it set there until it's dry. Soak in baking soda and water for a couple of hours and then let it dry for a few days or longer. This works really good on smaller pieces but takes a little longer on thicker pieces.
 
It's not appealing to me if it does work. Just wouldn't be the same for me, regardless. I repect and appreciate the real deal. Just me I suppose.

Roger
 
Hi Mike... don't take it the wrong way brother...im sure the guys were just ribbing ya...im sure the vinegar trick probably works pretty good...but i think the ivory would taste like crap:D :p :p
lighten up my man..its all in good fun:)
 
Hey, maybe this will work soaking it in my heat treating relish??? And it would improve the favor at the same time.:D :D :D
 
Originally posted by indian george
Hey, maybe this will work soaking it in my heat treating relish??? And it would improve the favor at the same time.:D :D :D
Click to expand...

George... He wants to make scales, not disolve the ivory. Your relish might be a little too harsh. :)
 
George, George... soaking anything in your heattreating relish will age it beyond usage...look at what its done to your complexion:D :p :p :p
 
IG Joe's right keep that relish away from my Ivoy:(
I need it to use:D :D
I'm going to try it Mike:D I think the guys are ribbng you too.:D
but don't try IG's relish on it:D :D
 
I seen the same show and wondered if it really worked also.I did try it on cow horn and it worked pretty good but didn't want to take a chance on what little Ivory I have now.But I was thinking the same as you Mike,so I guess they can rib me also:D
Bruce
 
Hmmm.... interesting. I wonder though if that it does break down the calcium would it cause the ivory to "decay" and crumble after it has dried?

Anyway, someone with the money to spend on possibly wasting some ivory needs to do it.

Come on Mr. Carson!:D ;)
 
OK I'm It,,, but I'm not rich mind you..
I took a piece of elephant bark Ivory about 3/16"x7/16"x5"
and soaked it in White vinegar for 36 hours I can bend
it some what by hand I put it in the vice and bent it
until it broke.
it bent a little over 90 deg. then just about 1" from
the end broke off. I cleaned up the end and put it back
in the vice, it is now in the vice at 90 deg's
it looked good up to around 75-80 deg
then up to 90 deg's it now has two surface cracks but
not too bad ( deep).
I'll let it dry now to see what it retains for bend
then neutralize it with Baking soada, dry and stabilize it.
I'll start another thread with the pictures of it later
so they will be the first thing you'll see on the posting.
as long as you guy are interested in the results.:)
 
I found this a very interesting thread, fun stuff and all. Some years ago my father showed me an antler handle that had been soaked in vineager and stuck the knife tang into it like it was clay. He had heard about it from another man who made knives. The antler looked like it had been melted and formed. It did not look pleasing to me, but it was an antler handled knife with out all the work normally associated with these handles. I believe that if you can develop a way of healing the texture after the vineager it would be interesting.
Thanks for sharing.
 
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