Ivory\Bone telling the difference ?

Hi

Have been using the forum for a short time now and found it to be very informative & the members extremely helpful to newcomers, on the downside I am finding it turning out to be quite expensive! new strop, shaving cream\aftershave etc. (note to myself ...need to keep hands in pockets).

I have posted in a couple of threads but this is my first starter so here goes....what I am after is a little advice, I was considering bidding on an ebay special that stated "either Bone or Ivory scales". too late now but it struck me that I would not be able to tell the difference anyway, so what exactly should I be looking out for to differentiate the two ?, the grain would be different I imagine, but in what way ?, I have searched earlier threads but cannot find anything on this so it may be informative to others as well.

Many thanks

Dunk

Dunk,

I am going to go out on a limb here. If wrong
I'm sure I will be corrected.

Ivory has a grain similar to wood. A cross section
has annular rings like a tree trund. A slab would show
these, perhaps faintly running the length of the scales.


Terry

I think Bill Ellis mentioned this to me, in very early restoration tread (from junk to funk). The bone has grain structure that looks like pores, or veins...

Nenad

Ivory usually has lines running through it. The really primo stuff has lines that are very distinct while the lesser grade has very fine lines that aren't obvious you almost need a hand lens to see them. As a matter of fact the way the Custom's guys can tell elephant from the fossil stuff mammoth ivory is the angle at which the lines intersect and run.

Many thanks guys, information/advice very much appreciated.

Dunk

Everyone here was accurate in their description of ivory. You could probably do some more research here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory

http://www.uniclectica.com/conserva/ivory1.html

i really did try and take good pictures but this is the best i seem to be able to get with my camera, any thoughts on if this is horn or ivory?

James...

You either need better pictures, or you need to read the information in the two links I provided.

So, you can read to learn how to take and process photo's or you can read how to identify ivory.


Or, you can bring them by my house and I'll tell you ;)

Once you know ivory from bone, it's unmistakeable. Here are some tips to get you over that initial hurdle. I've never seen a bone handle that didn't show evidence of porosity somewhere. Ivory usually does have visible grain but you may not be able to see it in pictures. You will, however, notice that ivory scales are virtually always thinner and more delicate than bone. Bone is usually pretty thick and showing the pores as dark flecks, particularly toward the edges and around the pins. Bone is tougher than ivory and will rarely be found cracked. Where ivory is most often cracked is around the wedge pin on one side or the other but usually not both. This is because sometime during the life of the razor someone jammed the blade into the scales hard enough to split it out at the pin.

well the scales on this razor certainly are thin and theyre not porous at ALL so i'm thinking it may in fact be Ivory but seeing it should be in Robert's hands in the future it wont remain a question too long :) .

Many thanks again to all. (absolutely fantastic helpful enthusiasts\experts on this forum).
I am going to do a trawl around the antique market this weekend and attempt to identify the difference using your advice. I Will probably not find any Straights.(never do) but I imagine I will be able to find some cutlery or other that I can scrutinise to help actually visualise the difference myself.

Dunk