Working with Mammoth Tooth.

Mike Davis

Mike Davis

Joined
Feb 7, 2006
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I know there are some people on here who have worked with Mammoth Tooth. I have some and want to use it but am unsure as to what tools i need to cut/grind it.
Any suggestions?

Thanks
Mike
 
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The best way to cut it on your band saw is with a carbide grit blades available from Lenox and others.

For holes, carbide grit hole saws (I get mine on ebay) work much better than drill bits. Carbide drill bits will work but they tend to split the material more.

For grinding, I rough in my shapes with a disk grinder and 36 grit disks. Finish handle shaping with your regular sanding belts, aluminum oxide will work but blue zirc and ceramics will last longer. Have some C.A. glue close, if a piece falls off, glue it back in and shoot it with accelerant.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Mark
 
Hello Mike.
I have used quite a bit, but I still find it an on going learning process.
To begin with if you are able to give it some sort of further stabilizing it sure would help. At this time I use crazy glue on it before I start and after I complete a "stage" of grinding or am changing sand paper sizes on my grinder.
I start off doing the crazy glue, with lots of care smoothing off the one side if they are to be scales. I then glue on some say .015" or thicker micarta to provide backing since this material is is on the fragile side. When doing thin scales I place backing on both sides using care to mark grain direction on the liners to avoid confusion.
It may be a nusiance but the belts to use for this material are silicon carbide. Just one belt in 120 size will make the going quite easy whereas a 60 grit blaze will provide a struggle. Adding the crazy glue as you go will help some.
Drilling holes can be an adventure. A lot of the tooth pieces can be made with hard and soft layers side by side. Sharp carbide drills often work best. If you are increasing hole sizes, give the holes a coat of crazy glue first.
I think this material can be used successfully for decorator knife handles, but I don't believe it has the strength for regularly being used ones.
Don't hesitate to ask questions. This is difficult stuff to do a great looking job with, if I have the answers, I will reply. Frank
 
Best of luck Mike. With thise prices I am years away from touching the stuff. Post pics if you can I know I'd love to see a WIP.
 
There are companies that specialize in stabilizing woods and other materials, but it is possible to do yourself.

Basically, you purchase a cheap vacuum pump from harbor freight (the kind used to evacuate refrigeration lines), and a plastic bell jar (heck, you could even use some ABS pipe with endcaps, but it's nice to be able to see).

If you mix up some epoxy resin, preferably some formulated for working with composite fibers, you can use it to stabilize the material.

All you need to do is make sure it's very dry by placing it in a bag of rice for a few days. Then mix up some slow-cure resin (thinning it isn't a bad idea either), and submerge the piece to be stabilized in a bowl, then place in your bell jar or whatever other vacuum vessel you've come up with.

As you pump it out, you should see bubbles in the resin itself, as well as coming from the piece to be stabilized. Once the bubbles slow to a crawl, you can vent the chamber and remove the part, and allow it to cure. You definitely want to use slow cure, because it will have less chance of putting stress into the workpiece.



Anyways, sounds involved, but when working with something that expensive, it's not a bad idea. There are companies that specialize in stabilizing too, so you may want to invest in that if you don't want to tackle it yourself. There are other ways to stabilize besides Epoxy resin, also.
 
Thanks for the great responses guys. The piece i am working with is already stabilized, and that sounds like it will save a lot of trouble lol. I will cut a piece of micarta i have to glue to the back of it and give it a try...WIP incoming :)
 
Do you mean stabilized by the supplier? I believe it has been done some, but that is THE starting point from where we came in, I'm sorry to say. Frank
 
Well, kinda :D I got the piece from Stacy, and it has been coated completely in CA. it is a fairly thick layer( I can scratch the glue). I have a bottle of CA set aside just for this piece. The stuff i have is Zap A Gap with an accelerator, is that a feasible CA? I use it for tying flies for my fishing addiction.
 
Having worked with one set of mammoth tooth scales (well, not full scales, just bolster sized pieces, that were going to be used as bolsters), and having utterly destroyed them in the process, my best recommendation is GO SLOW and GO COOL. Even just a little bit of heat will cause them to shatter. As Mr Knapp said above, if you can get those real small hole saws, they are better than drill bits, , use some cutting oil to lubricate and keep things clean, and they produce a whole lot less heat than your standard drill bit, and dont have the outward pressure you get when using normal drill bits.
 
If standard twist drill bits split mammoth tooth, has anyone tried a brad point bit like woodworkers use? Would they do a good as a small hole saw?
 
Stacy has given you a good place to start from with the micarta back up pieces. And yes, that's the glue to go with. Frank
 
That is always the first thing i do when i walk into my shop...grinding or not....I am going to cut this stuff with a jewelers saw, i have some diamond dremel bits i will "drill" it with and use plenty of water to cool it....Then get it shaped....I have a real cool idea, plan on documenting the process.
 
Mike Davis said:
That is always the first thing i do when i walk into my shop...grinding or not....I am going to cut this stuff with a jewelers saw, i have some diamond dremel bits i will "drill" it with and use plenty of water to cool it....Then get it shaped....I have a real cool idea, plan on documenting the process.
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You do not want to get the tooth wet, not ever. Once it is dry, (it's wet when we get it from the ground) you do not want to get it wet again, the tooth is made of layers of enamel, dentin and pith with cracks in between. If you get it wet, the pith absorbs water and caused the stuff to warp and crack. Also, if you get it wet, you will need to wait up to six months before it can be put on a knife so that it does not shrink and crack after it's on there. Best of luck.
 
woodwrkr221 said:
If standard twist drill bits split mammoth tooth, has anyone tried a brad point bit like woodworkers use? Would they do a good as a small hole saw?
Click to expand...

Well, the problem is, the tooth has layers very hard stuff and some softer stuff. High speed drill bits of any kind don't cut the enamel well, though it knocks chunks out. Any bits with two cutting edges revolving around a center act a lot like putting a screwdriver between the layers of the tooth and twisting.
 
Mark, those carbide bit hole saws start off pretty large don't they? Have you seen or used any that can be used on folders? Thanks Frank
 
Mark Knapp said:
Well, the problem is, the tooth has layers very hard stuff and some softer stuff. High speed drill bits of any kind don't cut the enamel well, though it knocks chunks out. Any bits with two cutting edges revolving around a center act a lot like putting a screwdriver between the layers of the tooth and twisting.
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I guess I was thinking the spur cutters on the tips of the cutting edges would sever around the perimeter of the hole long before the cutting edges chiseled out the remainder, but this is just speculation on my part, I've never worked with mammoth tooth, or even held any in my hands for that matter.
 
Frank Niro said:
Mark, those carbide bit hole saws start off pretty large don't they? Have you seen or used any that can be used on folders? Thanks Frank
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No, you are right Frank, the smallest I have seen and used are 1/8. They make much smaller diamond hole saws for glass. You might try those. Also, the smaller carbide drill bits work pretty good for small holes. I would, and do epoxy canvass on both sides of the tooth, grind it flat and parallel for all drilling and rough shaping. The canvass is sanded off just before assembling the knife.
 
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