Is it possible to cut Ivory

[Neil Pabia]

A customer brought me a slab of ivory .105" thick and asked if I could engrave it and then cut it into a shape for him, is this possible with a 60 watt laser or should I dust off the scroll saw?

[Dan Hintz]

Expect the stink of burnt hair ;) It actually engraves quite well, especially with the larger power cartridges like what you have. Cutting may present a bit more of a problem, though I'd be willing to try for a 100mil piece... at worst, engrave on the laser and cut with the saw.

[Neil Pabia]

I took a shot at it, looked good until I had it on the buffer. Hope the guy has a sense of humor.

[Mike Null]

Haven't done it but I would use several passes for cutting just to avoid the risk of overheating and expansion breaking it.

[Neil Pabia]

I pulled a piece out of my stash and redid it with mine and it came out much better. My stuff was thicker and his already had a crack running through it. He should be happy with the results. The slice I used was .165 thick. Cut it at 4 speed and 60 power with a 140 freq. This is all just learning for me still.

[Mike Null]

Neil

Good info. Got a picture?

[Neil Pabia]

The first shot is all 3 attempts. The second shot is using 20 speed, 50 power and 140freq, took 3 passes to go through. Third shot was done with 4 speed, 70 power, 140 freq and went through with one pass but the crack was too much for the buffer and would have failed later anyways. The fourth is a bit thicker and was cut with 4 speed, 70 power, and 140freq and was buffed out to give it a bit of shine. The customer wanted it to look old and natural not new and polished flat, so I think leaving the tooling marks on it should give that effect.
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[Mike Null]

The engraving is very nice but I would have drilled the holes.

If you want to play around try outlining the font and removing the fill. Then use India ink to fill the fine lines like scrimshaw.

[Neil Pabia]

Think you're right about the holes. I will give it a try again tomorrow.