cracked ivory

S

sparks

Member
I have a pair of mamoth ivory scales that I have profiled and drilled so far but not attached to the knife. One scale has a fine crack at one end. I was told to use zap a gap to seal the crack. It looks ok in the darkened part of the ivory but the sanded end where it is white does not look so hot. At this point do I scrap the scales or is there a method to repair this?
 
:les: Boy it would sure stink to have to scrap them. There are some pretty crafty makers here, hopefully one will pipe up with a solution.

Bill
 
Hi sparks. The cracks in ivory especially mammoth ivory are very common. To see some of mine listed, one even sold, and others with cracks go to the Customknifegallery.com I would fill the cracks with thick CA glue whick might take more than one time, while the scale is off of the knife before final finishing. Frank
 
Thanks Frank. I went to Customknifegallery.com to see your knives. Very beautiful work. I did not see any cracks although I have seen some in knife magazines. What is your opinion do you try to fix it and use it or not. Is a natural crack in a piece of ivory considered acceptable?
 
I fill cracks with super thin super glue, like Frank said it might take more than one application, it helps to use an excellerator for the super glue to speed up the process.
In my opinion natural cracks in mammoth Ivory are acceptable, if not, most mammoth ivory would be unuseable. The cracks should be stabelized though to keep them from spreading too far.
 
Gee sparks, several of my folders there were finished and had cracks treated and one of Don Hanson's was there the same.. In any case I agree 100% with Calvin . Frank
 
Knifemaker.ca said:
Just as a consideration, you can get mammoth ivory sawdust to mix with the glue for repairs.

Rob!
Click to expand...
If the crack is a natural crack I wouldn't try to repair it, just stableize it. I have tried to mix dust with super glue before without success, the glue gets too thick before I can mix it and get it in the crack, however I have had success with filling a large void with dust and then saturating it with the water thin super glue.
 
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