Elephant Ivory?

[Abhik]

Dear Pen Turners!

I want to echo the same thought expressed so passionately by Anne Sophie, Clydesdave-----. I am living in Africa (Rwanda) for last 10 years. When I came from New Delhi, artefacts made of ivory were in abundance!

I decided not to touch, not even look at those items!

Thank God, Government has taken stringent actions and over the years ivory artefacts vanished from market!

So, my request to esteemed members and pen turners to look for any other material but not ivory!

Thanks,

Abhik.

[GardenWeasel]

I love elephant ivory. It has a special feel to it that is unforgettable. I have it and will continue to have it. I love it!

[Ravenshurst]

I obviously can't speak about elephnat ivory for pens, but I do know that there are a few alternatives. The first, and probaly the least desireable, is a polymer that supposedly colors properly with age, you can get this @ firearms supply sources (pistol grips) and scrimshaw sources. I haven't seen any old enough to color, though. One Thing I have seen that is gorgeous...several benchmakers (custom knives) have been using fossilized walrus ivory for hilts. This stuff is gorgeous!! It is also very heavy (being fossilized) and I can only assume that as it is fossilized it wont bend/flex/crack when turning.

NOTE: I would truly LOVE to see an ivory pen!!

 

What about staghorn? It may be hard to turn, but it makes beautiful pistol grips & knife hilts...camel bone is also pretty popular for sword hilts. This thread makes me wish I knew how to make a pen. (and, of course, had a shop with all the right tools, lol)

 

Write on!

 

Gonzo

[hamadryad11]

What about staghorn? It may be hard to turn, but it makes beautiful pistol grips & knife hilts...camel bone is also pretty popular for sword hilts. This thread makes me wish I knew how to make a pen. (and, of course, had a shop with all the right tools, lol)

 

Write on!

 

Gonzo

I saw things made out of camel bone in China. It has a nice look to it. It was carved into some pretty intricate shapes, so I'd imagine it's not too hard to work with.

 

I'm curious about 'vegetable ivory'. I wonder if any of the ivory-nut palms produce nuts big enough for this sort of project. I've seen pictures of the nuts, but I couldn't get any idea of the scale.

 

[Deirdre]

We have a very lovely Moroccan cake server made with camel bone (LOTS of camel bone). It's pretty amazing.

[GBM]

 

Gonzo

I'm curious about 'vegetable ivory'. I wonder if any of the ivory-nut palms produce nuts big enough for this sort of project. I've seen pictures of the nuts, but I couldn't get any idea of the scale.

 

This site says some tagua nuts are the size of grapefruit...

 

http://home.att.net/~rspragg/Tagua.html

[wykpenguin]

I think the law now is that international transportation of ivory is also illegal. So even if you could buy it, you might not be able to ship it. And I really don't like to kill elephants for their tusks. It's a waste of life. I kill a chicken and I eat all of it, fine. But a rhino for a piece of horn or an elephant for two tusks seems like overkill.

 

That said I do confess that I think ivory is the best material for chopsticks, plastic, lacquer, steel and bamboo are no match. They last a lifetime if you don't drop them or put them in hot water. (a bit like keeping celluloid )

[mic]

sucks...mastodon ivory was cool to work with.

[Ruaidhri]

You probably all know this already, but there's a firm called GPS Agencies (no connection BTW) that did a huge amount of research into alternative ivory, tortoise etc.

Several respected members of the SOT were consulted, IIRC, and the resulting product is generally considered a super job - even to having traces of grain

 

Their site is here

 

Regards,

Ruaidhrí

[hamadryad11]

You probably all know this already, but there's a firm called GPS Agencies (no connection BTW) that did a huge amount of research into alternative ivory, tortoise etc.

Several respected members of the SOT were consulted, IIRC, and the resulting product is generally considered a super job - even to having traces of grain

 

Their site is here

 

Regards,

Ruaidhrí

Oh. Oh! Zebra-striped blanks! I *love* zebra stripes... anything with zebra stripes. I didn't know about this place! Thank you for posting.

[fountainbel]

Thanks for posting the link Ruaidhrí!

I've ordered directly a test bar of both the alternative ivory & tortoise the material, received it today and made some machining trials.

Materials machine very well on the lathe, both are however rather brittle, implying one should turn at high Rpm & low feeds.

I'm somewhat worried if a pen made in these materials would not easily break when accidently falling on a (tile) floor .

Do you have any experiences with this brittleness & the inherent risks ?

Thanks, Francis

 

You probably all know this already, but there's a firm called GPS Agencies (no connection BTW) that did a huge amount of research into alternative ivory, tortoise etc.

Several respected members of the SOT were consulted, IIRC, and the resulting product is generally considered a super job - even to having traces of grain

 

Their site is here

 

Regards,

Ruaidhrí

[richardandtracy]

...Materials machine very well on the lathe, both are however rather brittle, implying one should turn at high Rpm & low feeds.

I'm somewhat worried if a pen made in these materials would not easily break when accidently falling on a (tile) floor .

...

Does this make the plastic 'Precious Resin'? I suspect it would exhibit similar behaviour.

 

Maybe you could show a picture when you've finished with it.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

[fountainbel]

Hi Richard,

According the shipping list, the material is a "polyester resin", which is a rather brittle material. I'll post some pictures when I've finished the parts.

Francis

 

 

...Materials machine very well on the lathe, both are however rather brittle, implying one should turn at high Rpm & low feeds.

I'm somewhat worried if a pen made in these materials would not easily break when accidently falling on a (tile) floor .

...

Does this make the plastic 'Precious Resin'? I suspect it would exhibit similar behaviour.

 

Maybe you could show a picture when you've finished with it.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

[OldGriz]

Hi Richard,

According the shipping list, the material is a "polyester resin", which is a rather brittle material. I'll post some pictures when I've finished the parts.

Francis

 

As Francis states the stuff is very brittle to work with... even more tricky if using a wood lathe like I do.... high speed, scary sharp tools and a light touch... either that or watch the remains on the piece fly past your head as it shatters...

Here are some examples of pens I did with that material in different variations..

To put it mildly, the stuff can be a bear to work with.. but I would bet a metal lathe would make life a lot easier.... it is also a heavy material...

One of the nice things is that it takes engraving very very well, making it perfect for the work I did on some of the pens below

 

Green Jade Imitation with laser engraved Dragon (my artwork)

 

 

Imitation Ivory

 

 

Imitation Ivory, Red Coral, Jade and Blue Coral with laser engraved Dragon (my artwork)

 

 

[richardandtracy]

Tom, they are simply superb.

I particularly love the red & blue coral. Were they from a kit, or did you get someone to make the findings to your design?

 

I've been working with some 'Acrylics' just recently, and didn't think they smelt right. So, I took one of the pens to the plastics dept at work, the supervisor took a deep sniff & said 'Polyester Resin'. Then after another sniff, amended his statement to say 'With PMMA [acrylic] modifiers'. Apparently a number of home castable 'Acrylics' in the last 5 years are a peculiar polyester/acrylic alloy which exhibit properties of both - and the acrylic being used to toughen the polyester resin so it isn't quite so brittle.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

[OldGriz]

Tom, they are simply superb.

I particularly love the red & blue coral. Were they from a kit, or did you get someone to make the findings to your design?

 

I've been working with some 'Acrylics' just recently, and didn't think they smelt right. So, I took one of the pens to the plastics dept at work, the supervisor took a deep sniff & said 'Polyester Resin'. Then after another sniff, amended his statement to say 'With PMMA [acrylic] modifiers'. Apparently a number of home castable 'Acrylics' in the last 5 years are a peculiar polyester/acrylic alloy which exhibit properties of both - and the acrylic being used to toughen the polyester resin so it isn't quite so brittle.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

Thanks

They are all kit pens...

All from Craft Supplies USA. The top is a Jr Statesman, the middle a Gent and the bottom are Emperors, all high end kits with rhodium plate.

 

[fountainbel]

Beautiful work Tom, congratulations !

The dragon artwork is very impressive, is this completely hand carved?

As for the material I particularly like the pen made in the imitation ivory.

Francis

 

 

 

Hi Richard,

According the shipping list, the material is a "polyester resin", which is a rather brittle material. I'll post some pictures when I've finished the parts.

Francis

 

As Francis states the stuff is very brittle to work with... even more tricky if using a wood lathe like I do.... high speed, scary sharp tools and a light touch... either that or watch the remains on the piece fly past your head as it shatters...

Here are some examples of pens I did with that material in different variations..

To put it mildly, the stuff can be a bear to work with.. but I would bet a metal lathe would make life a lot easier.... it is also a heavy material...

One of the nice things is that it takes engraving very very well, making it perfect for the work I did on some of the pens below

 

Green Jade Imitation with laser engraved Dragon (my artwork)

 

 

Imitation Ivory

 

 

Imitation Ivory, Red Coral, Jade and Blue Coral with laser engraved Dragon (my artwork)

 

 

[OldGriz]

Beautiful work Tom, congratulations !

The dragon artwork is very impressive, is this completely hand carved?

As for the material I particularly like the pen made in the imitation ivory.

Francis

 

Thanks, but the dragons were laser engraved from my original artwork....

The artwork took longer to produce than the pens did

But I was real happy with how the guy who does my laser work did them...

The bottom set was a limited edition of 25 pens.... I have two left.. one a FP and one a RB...

I think they are a Blue Coral and a Jade..

[richardandtracy]

Thanks

They are all kit pens...

All from Craft Supplies USA. The top is a Jr Statesman, the middle a Gent and the bottom are Emperors, all high end kits with rhodium plate.

As usual, the US seems to have a much better range of craft supplies than the UK. Thanks Tom, fascinating to see, and beautiful pens.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

[APPLEMAN]

Thanks for posting the link Ruaidhrí!

I've ordered directly a test bar of both the alternative ivory & tortoise the material, received it today and made some machining trials.

Materials machine very well on the lathe, both are however rather brittle, implying one should turn at high Rpm & low feeds.

I'm somewhat worried if a pen made in these materials would not easily break when accidently falling on a (tile) floor .

Do you have any experiences with this brittleness & the inherent risks ?

Thanks, Francis

 

You probably all know this already, but there's a firm called GPS Agencies (no connection BTW) that did a huge amount of research into alternative ivory, tortoise etc.

Several respected members of the SOT were consulted, IIRC, and the resulting product is generally considered a super job - even to having traces of grain

 

Their site is here

 

Regards,

Ruaidhrí

 

 

I found that it was a very brittle material. I think using a kit it would be fine as you have the tube and the ends to protect it but I found even cutting threads it was chipping a bit. I might be doing it wrong so I am looking forward to what you think about it. Keep us informed.

 

Chris