Thread: Bone or Ivory? Hmmmmmm

Originally Posted by PapaBull

... About half the ivory razors I've seen have had at least one crack and most of those cracks are at the wedge pin - a result of the blade being jammed into the scales too hard at one time or another, breaking it at the pin. Other frequent damage is at the tip of the scale near the pivot pin where the ivory is typically the thinnest.

u-h-h-h-m-m-m....like this???


...most of those cracks are at the wedge pin


...Other frequent damage is at the tip of the scale near the pivot pin where the ivory is typically the thinnest.



OK, PapaBull, you're weirding me out, here....

(...OK, what color socks am I wearing?...)

-whatever

-Lou

That looks like a bone handle. Something I forgot - when Ivory cracks it will (unless really brutalised) crack along the length of the grain - bone doesn't as its structure is completely different. Bone cracks tend to either radiate from the pin or wander of jaggedly. Point taken about using thick ivory but those are, after all, custom scales (I'd love to see 'em!). Old ivory is generally very thin and cracks easily especially when it's a good age. Anyway, it gives the razor character!

Yep, that's bone. Bone usually doesn't get damaged as badly as ivory but you've got one of the exceptions to the rule.

In most cases, especially in older ivory scales, they will be much thinner. As Robert noted, the newer ivory scales can be as thick or thicker than other scales these days. In older ivory scales, there is usually not a collar on the pins and the scales will have a snowflake appearance under a simple magnifying glass. The hot pin test as indicated also works.

Lou, those definitely look like bone.......

Have fun.

Lynn