Thread: Real amber scales

Does it exist? I'm familiar with the use of a variety of exotic and natural materials for scales making but I think I've never seen or heard about real amber scales, full or just with an inlays.

I'm thinking of making a custom set of scales and try to combine real amber into it, kind a like the use of tortoise shell, but have no idea how to handle it or what is it durable level on the scales. Can I flat it? Will it become for flexible after some heating like with a horn?

I think it will look super nice and unique to combine a piece like this one (including the small insect) into an ivory scales:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-5g-Flashin...71250057711%26


Any info will be helpful!
Thanks

I have heard of that they did exist but sadly have no more info on it.
Amber is thermoplastic, it can be press-cast into any shape you like.

I have never seen or heard of amber scales, but I suppose you could use it to make them.

It is a resin where the terpenes (oily constituents) have been removed over time and by cross-linking. It's very soft, scratches easily and is hard and brittle - drop it on a hard surface and it will shatter.

I used to work on the Baltic wharf in Wallasea Island - Polish timber boats used to bring in timber for Bambergers and nearly all the crew had baltic amber to sell. Not only in polished form or strings of beads, but also pressed and melted into other shapes. It can be melted with heat or softened with chemicals. Working it is pretty slow going - you have to avoid heat build-up and it is prone to crack and craze at the slightest provocation. As I ran a bar and the Polish seamen were a thirsty lot, I soon accumulated a vast amount of amber! Boy, could they drink - when visiting ship I was carried home in the small hours with a torch-lit procession on several occasions. My last recollection of the captain were his boots sticking out from under a low bed where he had rolled unconscious. Happy days.

One novel use for it was as a varnish for wetplate collodion images on glass (ambrotypes, etc) and collodion over tin plates covered in asphalt (tin-types). I used to put small beads of amber in a mortar and pestle, grind it to a powder and mix it with chloroform. It took a week or so to dissolve all the amber. You then poured a puddle of it over a warmed glass plate and rocked it to even it out, spilling the excess off at one corner. It left a protective coat of amber behind.

Another recipe called for heating the amber and dissolving it in benzole - not recommended, as benzole is a mixture of benzine and toluene, both carcinogens.

As a varnish it is very soft and offers little protection. gum sandarac mixed with spike lavender oil and 190 proof alcohol was way better.

Regards,
Neil

PS: there is plenty of amber with inclusions, particularly that from New Jersey, but a lot of it is fake - made by methods talked about above!

Thank you so much for the info, that is fascinating! I was thinking of buying a small piece, shape it into a flat form and combine it with another material (bone or ivory) into the scales over a custom shaped brass sheet. Do you think that it can take a hole drilling (for the pin) process without breaking or cracking?

Sure you can drill it, but as said it's not them most cooperative material around, I've used a flat drill for pearls.
Some drill it under water or oil to dampen vibrations, I don't know how much it really helps tho.

Like Lemur said, it is a good idea to drill it under water if you can - mainly to dissipate heat. If the drill bit melts the amber it will stick and the likelihood of getting it out and leaving the amber intact is slight.

You need to use a slow speed, and keep the drill perpendicular - if it moves or chatters it will chip the amber. Possible a drill press of some sort would be beneficial.

You also risk 'break out' when you get near to the other side - a fracturing of the amber around the exit hole due to pressure. Light pressure and slow drilling and something in close contact with the underside of the amber are indicated. You could try to drill in both directions, but this has hazards of a different order and is not for those unused to it.

If you are going to bond the amber to a sheet, I would solder two soft pins on the back of the sheet and drill the ivory, then peen over the ends to hold it there, using some sort of cement to hold the amber onto the brass sheet - probably misunderstood what you intend to do though - I'm not the brightest tool in the box!

Also be aware that the surface of amber can be marred by a host of household cleaners and chemicals - anything with alcohol, ether, chloroform, ammonia, etc, etc, will injure the surface.

I had a beautiful key-fob given to me by the captain of the Polish ship - it was multi coloured small beads of amber set in melted amber. On top it was fused to a clear acetate plate with the ship-owners details on it in black script. The whole was encased in a kind of art-deco silver metal. I can't remember the town - something like Strzten or something like that - they pronounced it 'stitch-in'. Anyway, it clouded over, got thousands of fine hair-line cracks over it then it fell to pieces. I was really upset about that - it was one of the last links I had to that period of my life.

Once it has been worked, particularly if the surface has been polished and got a bit hot, the internal stresses will craze it over time, giving it an unattractive 'skin' and marring the detail under it. Try not to use buffers on it - hand working is the way to polish it and maintain the surface. Various things like tripoli powder, finely powdered chalk, etc have been used traditionally.

Regards,
Neil

This is one of my favorite drills, old but going strong, thou you have to make your own drill bits...

I recall Glen using amber as spacers on some razors. Perhaps he will read this thread and offer some more enlightenment.

Nice Item Lemur,when ever I have to drill into anything questionable,A hand held pinvise is
my best friend,Icannot generate heat.
Is very slow going at times,works for me.