greetings and thanks in advance, I 've been a lurker here for quite
some time and now have a question concerning Ivory. I have a friend
who wants me to do silver “wrapping” (mounting) of the ivory pieces.
I’ve set stone and shell but never ivory. Is it wise to use
something like a 330 clear epoxy on ivory? Any comments as to the
use and setting of Ivory would be much appreciated. Green Horn in
Oklahoma.
Hi Mike; I had the same problem, when asked to make a silver pendant
and set some antique ivory. I decided against the use of epoxy,
because I thought if it ever needs to be taken out of the setting, or
the piece would be remounted, it would be less damaging to cut of the
setting than to put ivory in attack or any other chemical. It is a
porous organic substance, and items like that I tend to treat with
utmost care. So I just bezel set it carefully in very annealed
sterling, making sure that it is pressed down well around the edge.
All it needed after setting was some more burnishing and then
polishing. I just used warm water, dishwashing liquid with a small
brush to clean off the rouge; I didn’t want to take a chance with
ultrasonic cleaning fluids. Good luck. Regards Michaela Wolfert