Stabilizing Hippo Tusk

[Kevin Cross]

A gentleman recently contacted me about repairing a knife. It seems he had a knife made about 4-5 years ago and the maker put a hippo tusk handle on it. He loves the knife and had the handle scrimshawed BUT the handle was not originally stabilized and now it is starting to crack and fall apart on him. He is sending it to me to see if I can stabilize or repair the tusk so it looks good. Anybody ever done this or have any recommendations?

Kevin

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Hippo does not need stabilizing normally. It may get the normal age cracks, just like any ivory, but it shouldn't be "falling apart".

Hippo is really brittle, and one thing that will make hippo and walrus do what you describe is if the maker over-heated the ivory in sanding and shaping. If that was the case, there will be a million micro-cracks that will start to enlarge and intersect, causing it to look like a jigsaw puzzle. You can try soaking it in thin CA, letting it cure for a week or two, and then re-polishing, but that is only a patch over the damage.

Otherwise, it may be best to replace the handle.....or leave it as is.

 

[Kevin Cross]

Thank you Stacey. I did not think it required stabilization but that's all I could think of at the time. I did not consider that it could have been over heated. I will see what condition it is actually in when it gets here.

Kevin