Thread: Drew set

Thank you Wirm.

Some time ago I had posted another Ivory project and a fellow member offered some suggestions on how to age Ivory . I feel bad not remembering just who it was.

Anyway I also did a bit more research and the process goes like this.
I sanded out the piece and basically got it polished. I then wiped it down with alcohol to remove any wax, oil etc.
I filled a shallow tray with vinegar and dropped the scale in for maybe 20 seconds. The vinegar , or most any acidic wash acts like an etch for the stain to settle in.
Remove the scale , rinse and drop into your stain. Just like your teeth ( it's basically the same material) anything can stain it. I used tea in another shallow tray. This brought up some color but not the direction I wanted it. I needed more to the yellowish shade. Being in the kitchen, and in the middle of the process I remembered how turmeric stains my fingers yellow so I added that to the mix and it got me pretty much there only it all became quite dark.

So out to the shop for a little scuffing,,buff with some cleaner wax ,, and just playing with it until the shine was there and the color at least close to what I wanted.

I'm sure I could with more samples ,,, aniline dies,, some suggest clothing dyes I could hit it on the nose .
But I just used what was on hand in the heat of the moment .

And too being natural materials,, an the variations expected in them the differences in these kinda seem right somehow after aging all these years.
Sanding the old ones didn't really lighten them as I anticipated either. So I had to find a balance.
An interesting thing I found was keepin Ivory covered in the dark ( keeping the lid down on a piano ) will cause the Ivory to darken.