Synthetic Ivory: school me.

V

VaughnT

Joined
Feb 7, 2010
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I'm planning a knife design and would like to use ivory on the handle as well as the sheath. If it works out, it will be very complicated and will cost me the rest of the hair on my head, but....

Looking around at the various suppliers, I see Texas Knife has what they call "best looking" alternative ivory. Looks good, has grain, but....? Is there better? How is it to work with? Any pitfalls? Anywhere to get longer pieces?

Sent an email inquiry but haven't heard back, yet.

Some folks mention using white paper micarta, but I'm worried about the paper absorbing stains from handling.

Having only ever used wood, canvas micarta and antler, I'd love to hear more about the variations in synthetic and alternative ivories.
 
All of the good synthetic ivory is made by Masecraft. It really looks like ivory, is very easy to work, but is also easy to crack when using pins. Micarta is tougher, will not absorb stains from handling (unless you have ink on your hands), is fairly easy to work, but looks nothing like ivory.
 
What micarta are you using that doesn't absorb stain? Every kind I have tried just sucks the stuff up. Just died some green micarta black with leather die, and it's definitely in there as I've washed, scrubbed, cussed, etc, and it's still very black!
 
So far I have worked with two kinds of ivory... fossilized walrus and newer walrus. These were small pieces, suitable only for use as spacers, but they were both relatively easy to work with. The fossilized ivory has a sort of tapioca look to it, whereas the newer stuff looks like what you expect ivory to look like. I bought both small pieces very cheap ($2 for one, $6 for the other).

I just got back from the Portland antique expo, where I found a massive chunk of walrus ivory (roughly 5 pounds, I'm guessing) for $200. This is the part closest to the mouth and is roughly 15 - 18 inches long, and is probably best going to be suited for scales. The same dealer had a long and very nice end piece that would almost all be usable for something, but that piece weighed less and cost $500.

My point in all this is that you needn't resort to synthetic ivory, unless you really want to. There are good and affordable pieces of alternative ivories that would suit your needs too. There are numerous pieces for sale now on the trading forum, some marked down.

Personally, I like working with natural materials, especially if doing so doesn't harm the environment. Using fossil ivory or pieces collected from long dead animals is a sustainable way to utilize natural material to good effect.
 
Have you thought of using antler? You can get some large pieces and once you sand the bark down the white shows up fairly well. Larger pieces can be split for scales and smaller ones drilled for hidden tangs.
 
What about using Giraffe bone? It is very white, very dense, and very strong. You can buy whole shin or thigh bones for very reasonable prices.
 
Hmm....

I didn't know walrus and mammoth were so readily available, and legal.

As for giraffe, that's the first I've heard of it. Where do you get larger pieces from? A quick look around the shops shows scales for sale, mostly jigged and died, but nothing whole.

Got my curiosity going.
 
An outfit called giraffebone.com has been running ads in Blade for time out of mind. I haven't bought from them, nor do I know anyone who has, but they might be worth checking out.
 
Maybe I should mention that I have one knife with a giraffe bone handle. Unlike ivory, the bone has noticeable pores. Unfortunately, it's just as prone to cracking and discoloration as ivory is.
 
Giraffebone.com is good people. Sandy McClure runs the business and her knife maker husband Jerry Mc Clure does his exceptional knives.
 
Giraffe bone is much harder than ivory-or fake ivory. Use the Masecraft stuff.
Cutting out a sheath from giraffe would be a lot of work, and it stinks when ground.
 
I was in a similar situation to yours several months back. I was building a knife for my brother-in-law Dave, and really wanted the look of ivory without the cost. Originally I had intended to use Masecraft's imitation ivory... I even bought a long block of it. I just couldn't bring myself to use it on the knife though; and the reason had nothing to do with how it would look, but just mental reservations in using a synthetic material instead of a natural one. I ended up using some VERY nice stabilized giraffe bone scales from Giraffebone.com. They were good to deal with... and even threw in a couple of cool freebies.

Bill is correct... giraffe bone does stink when it is ground. I am, however, glad that I went with the bone over the synthetic. It just feels right.

Erin
 
I believe that if anyone becomes more involved with say the mammoth ivory, bone and tooth material, several things will become apparent and common. These are, that the material is expensive in any size to speak of, care and a different approach is needed in the working of it, it is not a great material for knives that will see "every day use" and they are very beautiful when finished in the rough or sanded down and polished. Frank
 
I'm glad to see I am not the only one that prefers natural over synthetic. I'm also glad to see I'm not the only one that can't adequately explain it.

Let me just say that I just spent two days looking at a lot of antique and semi-antique knives and swords. Obviously, all were made in the era before synthetics. Though the ivory I saw was not snowy white, it was aged and beautiful and felt smooth and satisfying in the hand. The wood, though never stabilized, was still very much intact. The leather, though dried and darkened, still gave stayed in place.

Those that spend so much mental energy worrying about things shifting and changing over time seem to forget that such changes add a grace and elegance to the piece. It's not a flaw, it's a feature. In the end, if antiques look like something that was just made yesterday, they look cheaper than if they are able to age gracefully.

I know some synthetic materials age gracefully too. Bakelite, for example. It's a thermoset plastic invented in 1909, and is prized today not because of its ability to always look the way it did the day it was cast... but because it has aged gracefully. I've actually considered making a handle out of bakelite fo that very reason.
 
Yes, you might have missed it because it went so fast, but about a month ago somebody here put up a lot of Westinghouse "Old Yeller" Antique Ivory Micarta for sale. If you blinked, you missed it. (I blinked.)
 
In the interest of full disclosure, I'll update my previous post by stating that the piece of ivory I bought at the antique show was, in fact, only 2 pounds and 13 ounces (not five pounds as I stated previously). I guess I suck at estimating weight. ;)
 
I have worked both Ivory and synthetic ivory, real ivory will test your skills and patence, its tough to clean up and prevent cracks. The synthetic is a dream to work with, hard to keep clean but really does turn out nice. High end I would go real, nice look on a user, synthetic.
 
Thought I'd mention that bleached cowbone gets a lovely sheen, and a pair of slabs goes for about $8-15. Poor man's ivory, so to speak.:)

Dave
 
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