Sawing Mammoth Ivory

Frank Hunter

Frank Hunter

Well-Known Member
With larger 1/2" thick mammoth ivory scale sets and slabs, what kind of tooth count and blade/feed speed is optimal? I would like to slice the interior 3/16 or so off leaving a solid 5/16 face scale from each piece and I suspect that this stuff isn't much like wood when you go to resaw it. Thanks in advance!
 
Boone Trading Company has a nice write up: WorkingInstructions. They say 6-10tpi is best. I just cut up a 30lb pre-ban elephant tusk using a 14/18tpi bimetal blade on my metal bandsaw (the 10tpi hadn't arrived yet), and it worked fine, though it was a little slow. Charlie Turnage, who essentially cuts ivory for a living, told me to 1) make sure you're stronger than the saw if it happens to catch and 2) let the saw do the work, and just feed gently. One guy I know pauses periodically when working ivory to touch it to his lips. If it's too hot for that, it's too hot. Heat is the big enemy.
 
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I dont think there is a right or wrong tooth count. But agree 100% You want to work the material as cool as possible. So a sharp/NEW blade and let the saw do the work.

Have fun and be safe.
Randy
 
I think you may not like resawing that material that thin. Mammoth ivory has a strong grain that does not run horizontally. The grain is slanted. A tusk is basically a series of stacked cones. Cutting along the scales laterally may (likely) crack the scale along the grain in a bad way and you could lose a scale. Mammoth is at least 10,000 years old. What appears solid, frequently cracks along the grain when cutting it. I use a 14tpi blade and some times use 18tpi if the ivory is fairly fragile. Knock it gently on a hard bench and feel if the piece is dead solid or less than that. If you feel any looseness in the piece, look for cracks and apply thin super glue to let it wick in and set up. God luck. Cutting mammoth is always a gamble. I have cut enough of it to know I don't like cutting it.
 
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