Setting deer teeth

Jewelry Discussion
1

I am making my first ring with Deer Teeth and was wondering if I
should coat them with something before setting them in the mounting.
There will be 2 teeth in the ring and a bezel surrounding each, but I
left it open underneath to help cut the weight of the ring down.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Sandy

2 
I am making my first ring with Deer Teeth and was wondering if I
should coat them with something before setting them in the
mounting.

I have never worked with bone, but I remember in the book Theory and
Practice of Goldsmithing, there are couple of chapters on working
with bone. You may want to take a look at it.

Leonid Surpin

3

Sandy,

Could you be a bit more specific on your terminology of “Deer” teeth.
I think what you are referring to are the vestigial ivory tusks that
are taken from Elk. If they are Elk Ivory, they will cut and polish
beautifully and need no covering or treatment. They will wear very
well for years.

Just a quick note, if you haven’t cut the tusks yet, be sure to
bleach them and remove any fleshy material to sanitize them first.

Dave

4

I don’t know about deer teeth but have set several elk ivories. They
polish and set nicey without any coatings. Try to keep as much color
as possible in the tusk when shaping… Bob

5 
I am making my first ring with Deer Teeth and was wondering if I
should coat them with something before setting them in the
mounting.

To be more specific…they are from a Red Deer shot in Texas. I
have worked with elks teeth but these seem a bit more brittle. I feel
like my customer will wear this alot so I would like to keep them
protected.

Sandy

6

Teeth are ivory and I have set plenty of Elks teeth in my day from
Colorado. If you treat it like turquoise or any other stone that
doesn’t like acids, pickling, chemicals, etc. you should be ok…I
like to treat mine like pearls. It is the last thing to do…set it
last. All other things should be done with the model. I assume you
are setting this in a bezel? If it gets dirty or a little dull, just
lightly rouge it with a soft brush and wash in warm soap and water
with toothbrush. Do not steam it and no ultrasonic.

Russ
Russ Hyder
www.thejewelrycadinstitute.com

7

I seem to recall that this type of jewelry is traditional in Germany
and Austria and I know I’ve seen it in a reference book somewhere.

Tony Konrath

8

Are you putting this in a ring or a pendant or ??. At any rate to
protect it fully think about a “cage” type setting to keep direct
wear off of it. If this is more brittle, in a way that is good
because it is harder. Remember that deer burnish their own teeth
through the years mashing up goodies. Like I said before, even if it
shows wear you can bring back the luster with a little rouge. I have
even done that with a pearl after one of my bozo jewelers threw it
in the pickle…It lustered right back up.