Have a friend who needs a source for fossil Ivory… Any
Suggestions.
Thanks,
Candy
Candy,
There have been ethical problems with using ivory in jewelry for
years, and I think it might even be illegal to use in jewelry. I
believe fossil ivory is another story, and as far as I know, legal to
use in jewelry for sale. I had a jeweler friend, years ago, who
wanted to use ivory in a few of his nautical jewelry items he
produced, but would not use dead elephant parts in his work. He used
a material called “Ivory Micarta”, a resin-based plastic material
that has fabric layers in it.
Micarta is very easy to cut, sand, and polish, and comes in lots of
colors. I’m not sure whether it is even produced anymore. It was
commonly used for knife handles, because of its durability, colors,
and ease of manufacture. It’s also impervious to moisture.
The ivory micarta, of which I still have a treasured piece of, has a
quite similar look of ivory, and a visible “grain” to it, very much
like real ivory, without the dead elephant.
If anyone knows whether this micarta is still available, I would
like to know.
As far as fossil ivory goes, I don’t know of a specific supplier,
but if you are ever at the Tucson Gem Show, you will see vendors
selling as much fossil ivory as you could want.
Jay Whaley
Whaley Studios
Any found or purchased fossil ivory is perfectly legal in the us.
How ever obtained any other way is askin for a governmental butt
kickin.
Mark Bellamy JD.
Fossil Ivories are perfectly legal to use. the whole point of
banning elephant ivory is to protect living animals. The fossil
ivories I’ve seen for sale are of 2 types: fossil walrus tusk and
mammoth ivory. the fossil walrus ivory from Alaska is prtoected in
this way; only native Alaskans are allowed to dig or mine it, as it
is a resource only they have rights to. Once it is dug up or washed
up, they can sell it however and to whomever they wish.
Fossilized walrus tusk works more like stone than like ivory. It is
very hard. The dust is toxic; you should work it with great care in
that regard. It is luminous when thin enough for light to glow
through it. It comes in a number of colors from contact with the
earth and has an inherent “burl” in the center.
Marianne Hunter
Ivoroid is a brand of celluloid that has been manufactured to look
like ivory with grain. Guitar-builder’s supply (eg Stewart Macdonald
stewmac.com) sell it in strips and buttons, & may be able to link you
to a source.
It melts and burns rapidly when drilled etc. at higher rpms, so may
not be quite right for your purposes, but I thought I’d mention it.
Good luck, and thanks for all your helpful posts on Orchid, Jay.
all the best,
Susan Ellenton,
Victoria B.C. Canada
I used to buy it from Ivory Jacks when I went to Tucson. Their
website only shows finished jewelry and carvings but if you call
them, you may be able to arrange for them to send a package of raw
pieces on memo.
Beth
The ivory micarta, of which I still have a treasured piece of, has a quite similar look of ivory, and a visible "grain" to it, very much like real ivory, without the dead elephant. If anyone knows whether this micarta is still available, I would like to know.
My husband and I collect custom made and art knives. We have several
with ivory Micarta handles. You can find ivory Micarta through any
knife making supply house here is just one I found in a quick google
search http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/item-detail.cfm?ID=MI701.
All the Best,
Kerry Palumbo
Ferrous Jewelry
Hi Candy,
My fossil Ivory was purchased from a company that used to sell on
Ebay. They used Mammoth Ivory for knife & Gun scales, and sold the
cut bits in lots to jewelers & such. I picked up about 4 pounds of it
maybe, and this was about 3 years ago. I have noticed they no longer
are listed, and have Googled a good number of suppliers, but it seems
to be getting VERY expensive of late, and very hard to find larger
parts.
A friend of mine uses Kowak Ivory @ http://www.kowakivory.com
I have no idea of their prices.
Good Luck
Teresa
Sounds like the company I got mine from (IIRC it might have been
“fine turnage productions”) on eBay, but eBay changed its policies on
ivory (all kinds fossil or otherwise) from “caveat emptor” to “not on
our site” about a year ago…
About 4 years ago I bought 10lbs and still have about 5 or 6lbs
(mostly in a single chunk of tusk). Makes real nice cufflinks
especially when I get then scrimmed. [grin]
Cheers, Thomas Janstrom.
Little Gems.
http://tjlittlegems.com
These guys stock Ivory Micarta for industry. They are suppliers to
the knife shops and generally have a wider range, can cut to size:
Mark B
Fourth Axis
http://www.fourth-axis.com/four-4-jaw-chuck/
I got my start in jewelry…doing scrimshaw. Both carving and
etching… this was one of my best “sources” for ivory.
They have quite a variety. FWIW, I’ve used the hippo, walrus and
mammoth. It carves wonderfully. The site also has info regarding the
laws pertaining to the use of ivory.
hope this is of some help.
bill