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Chris DeGerolamo
09-17-2010, 4:56 PM
Has anyone worked with real ivory with respect to lasering? Any stories, comments or recommendations are appreciated.

Frank Corker
09-17-2010, 5:40 PM
It stinks a bit when you cut it. You need to watch your frequency settings because it will burn and char if it is too high. Engraves nicely but doesn't leave very dark marks, so infilling is important consideration. I would say be careful when you make your tests and do small areas in order to do them, it's a difficult medium to access these days and strict laws governing it's use.

Dee Gallo
09-17-2010, 7:28 PM
I've engraved a bit of it and get a very dark mark using 40 speed/100 power at 600 dpi. It does stink kind of like hair. The best source for thin pieces is old piano keys or new old stock. You cannot import it from other countries unless you want a lot of trouble.

cheers, dee

Bruce Volden
09-17-2010, 10:05 PM
The ivory I've engraved has turned out VERY nice! Prior to engraving I waxed my pieces with Johnsons Paste wax to seal things up. Then engraved and colored filled yadayada and finalized the pieces by cleaning them up. No problems, charge accordingly. By the way where did you get the ivory? I got mine from a trading post in Washington, they sold it by the thickness I wanted. I see places selling it now by the gram???? It is beautiful stuff but way too pricey anymore. I would also recommend a "faux" ivory by several of the solid surface manufacturers. Something to think about.

Bruce

Andrea Weissenseel
09-19-2010, 10:23 AM
I read that boxwood is supposed to be a good substitute for ivory, never seen anything made out of it in real.

Andrea

Belinda Barfield
09-19-2010, 10:41 AM
I purchased some ivory blanks from Boone Trading Company. I was very happy with the product, customer service, etc.

Viktor Voroncov
09-19-2010, 11:01 AM
I did two times in my life, quality was good, but smell :eek:

Chris DeGerolamo
09-19-2010, 12:16 PM
Thank you for all the responses. I will be sure to post my results should I move forward on this project.

After a bit of discussion, we are not going to use real ivory but instead use a faux ivory. Does anyone know where I would be able to get belt buckle blanks? I have searched with little result..I think I may be looking for the wrong thing.

George D Gabert
09-20-2010, 3:26 PM
That might be a good canidate for some Corian. Easy to engrave and the fixings should be easy to find.

GDG

Dee Gallo
09-21-2010, 2:17 PM
Thank you for all the responses. I will be sure to post my results should I move forward on this project.

After a bit of discussion, we are not going to use real ivory but instead use a faux ivory. Does anyone know where I would be able to get belt buckle blanks? I have searched with little result..I think I may be looking for the wrong thing.

Chris, search for "casein" and you will find what is also known as "french ivory", which is a fake ivory with streaks replicating real ivory grain.

cheers, dee

Pete Bejmuk
09-22-2010, 12:50 AM
there's also a certain large tree-nut that makes for a very good replacement for ivory. it's not very big (about 3 inches max) but works for small inlays.

Dee Gallo
09-22-2010, 8:50 AM
there's also a certain large tree-nut that makes for a very good replacement for ivory. it's not very big (about 3 inches max) but works for small inlays.

Oh yeah - I forgot about "vegetable ivory" from the ivory nut tree. It's possibly just big enough for a belt buckle - maybe?

Ed Czarnetzky
10-14-2013, 10:07 AM
Good morning all. I am new here and joined because of my gun collection and related work with gun stocks. My specific interest today is finding someone who can do laser scrimshaw on my elephant ivory grips. I have a couple of nice fine line drawings of tasteful nudes I would like to get transferred to 1911 grip panels. Thought perhaps in the time that has elapsed since this thread was started there might be some new developments. I am also interested in laser engraving wood and stabilized wood. Thank you for your advice and assistance. Ed

Chris DeGerolamo
10-14-2013, 11:26 AM
272951

This was the last set of grips I engraved. Real ivory, using Dee's recommended settings, engraved this color naturally. (Thanks Dee btw.)

Ray Mighells
10-14-2013, 12:00 PM
I bought a bit of Ivory on ebay, essentially scraps, sometimes bigger pieces/slabs. It is pricey but legal.

Dave Gates
10-14-2013, 12:22 PM
For belt buckle blanks...there are several people on Etsy selling a few designs. I have a few left over from an old job if you'd like one.

Bill Cunningham
10-14-2013, 1:55 PM
Good morning all. I am new here and joined because of my gun collection and related work with gun stocks. My specific interest today is finding someone who can do laser scrimshaw on my elephant ivory grips. I have a couple of nice fine line drawings of tasteful nudes I would like to get transferred to 1911 grip panels. Thought perhaps in the time that has elapsed since this thread was started there might be some new developments. I am also interested in laser engraving wood and stabilized wood. Thank you for your advice and assistance. Ed

I did a couple of mini 1911 grips for a fella on the east coast of the same subject. A line drawing of his wife, but this was just faux ivory and had to colour fill it. But they did turn out nice from the artwork he provided. If your in Canada, and you have 'good' artwork (i.e. not low res web art) send me a PM, if they have to cross the border, 'anything' that relates to a gun or gun parts gives some lefties on the border the dry heaves, and they may vanish enroute or be delayed with lots of questions. If their real ivory, they probably can't cross the border and will be confiscated.

Ray Mighells
10-14-2013, 1:57 PM
Legal ivory is available on ebay

Chuck Stone
10-14-2013, 4:10 PM
Very nice, Chris .. I'm engraving that same image on faux ivory (vanilla corian) as we speak.

Chris DeGerolamo
10-15-2013, 1:58 PM
How's the color of the engraved portion compare?

Chuck Stone
10-15-2013, 11:57 PM
If that question was for me..
Corian doesn't generally change color when engraved. You have to pick it up
and look for a change in texture to know if it has been engraved. So .. color fill.
I've been using Scribbles paint (I think it's a fabric paint) It is made by Duncan
and I usually find it at Michael's pretty cheap. Slop it on, let it dry and then wipe
it off. You can control the color pretty well, though. Rub with a dry terry cloth
towel and you get pretty much full color. (it deepens with a finish, though) Or
you can use a damp towel to pull out more color, or you can use DNA to take
out even more color. Depends on the image. Using the DNA can give you some
leeway on saturation.. I did a bunch of cheetahs on pen barrels last week that
looked too dark, but when I rubbed it out with DNA, all of this detail popped out.
It was in the image, but hidden by too much paint.
For some images, that's fine. For the cheetah, it wasn't.

David Somers
10-16-2013, 2:46 AM
Oh yeah - I forgot about "vegetable ivory" from the ivory nut tree. It's possibly just big enough for a belt buckle - maybe?

It is also called Tagua Nut. Woodturning suppliers and carving shops will carry it, among others.

Dave