Thread: Carving Ivory Scales

There was some interest in the scales I just did for a French razor.
Now this isn't , and can't be a be all end all how to post. Each carving is different but I'll show the tools I used to create the scales I did. There is no single "recipe" for this type of work. And like anything there are many ways to skin a cat.

As to carving Ivory, it's been done for hundreds of years. Nothing new here. You can use knives, small ( micro ) chisels, scrapers etc. which have produced great carvings. Being the age we live in there are fast and cheap ways of achieving the same effect. And what I'm showing is a very simple carving as far as carvings go.

The basic tools needed to produce this set of scales start with some basics. Cutting out scales can be as basic as using a coping type saw to having a band saw.
Many have a Dremel type tool which is the main work horse for doing many jobs where razors are concerned. The bits , or burrs, are commonly found as a set of diamond cutters. Sort of like little grinding stones but have a surface covered with diamond dust. They cut quick in this material and are relatively cheap. HF sells them for around $8.00 for a set of 20.
I started using these for my work about 25 yrs. ago and then they were $10.00 ea. How times change.
Other than that , sandpaper is needed for smoothing the surface etc. For getting into tight spaces and refining lines I cut up one of those white erasers. Ive got a set of 3 at the local dollar store for,,, yeah,, a buck! Cut them up into any shape you need, wrap with sand paper and off you go. Sand paper as you may know works better if backed up with something other than your fingers.
For the Scrimshaw. You'll need at the least a pin or a needle. Stick it in the end of a dowel and you now have a scribe to scratch a design into any material that you can scratch with a pin. To color your scratches you can use ink, a Sharpie, paints, dyes etc. I went high tech and took an old shot 1/16th drill bit, sharpened the end that goes in a drill and held it with a mechanical pencil. If you want to go old school, like the sailors did hundreds of years ago, you can use an awl, knife or anything you can find to scratch a design into ivory. They used ink, or a soot based stain to darken the lines they scratched into the ivory as they were sailing around chasing Whales.
Like I said, this is nothing new. They figured it out. We can too.

So far to do this work , assuming you at least have a Dremel and some way of cutting out scales, you need the Diamond bits and a needle, pin, awl, or like I did sharpen a bit and stick it in the end of a dowel. Low tech.
I also used some Needle files, also for a set around $8.00 and an X-Acto blade. Of course any fine tipped knife will do as well.

The first order of business is to come up with a design. Once I had my design I laid it out on some tracing paper ( don't need to , I just had some) This makes it easier to transfer the design and at the same time make front and back designs all at one time. There are ways around this but that means you'll have to have tracing paper.
Once the design is on the scale material just cut it out. Bandsaw, coping saw, chainsaw, whatever you have. Get close but the refining will come with files , knives and sandpaper. Here , after cutting with my bandsaw I used an oval file, sandpaper, and Xacto to refine the design.

Once the outline is completed and relatively uniform I laid out the design on the face of the scale. I used a .3mm pencil but if you can sharpen any pencil reasonably well it will workl. Just keep it sharp. At this size a dull pencil makes lines that are just way too fat. You want fine, crisp lines.
Once that is done it's time to chuck a diamond cutter and get to the fun part. The set of cutters comes with most every shape you'll need. Use the ball end for the bigger coves. Use the cylinders to rough in the V shapes and refine with the fine pointed bits. It's pretty much self evident. Pick the shape cutter you you wish to cut into the scale.
Here I roughed in with a ball type cutter, switched to a cylinder, and to refine it I went with a very fine pointed tip.

Same thing applied to the hinge end of the scale. Pick the cutter that matches the shape you want to reproduce in the scale.

Since these slabs were a shy 1/8 , which I needed for parts of the design I wanted above the surface of the main scale, the rest of the scale had to be taken down to a more reasonable thickness ( Ivory is very stiff) and it's what the design needed. Different levels. Some parts had to remain higher than others.
So using the cutters, sandpaper, knives I took down the remaining surface as you can see here.

To refine the shapes I used, as I said a cut up eraser. See, big bucks here and very high tech! With it I could reach into some pretty fine areas to clean up the surface. Also I resharpened an Xacto blade ( they are too rough from the factory) and used the tip and the whole blade as a scraper. It removes a surprising amount of material as you can shape surfaces with it as well as reach into tight areas for clean up.

Once the carving is done , polish it up. Use pretty much whatever polishes you like for doing any plastic, horn, bone scale and make it shine. It has to be essentially finished before you start the Scrimshaw. You can't sand and polish after the Scrimshaw so you have to do it now.
Once the polishing is done it's time to get your pin in a dowel, or like I did, a sharpened drill bit in a mechanical pencil to use as your scribe to scratch , or press dots into the surface.
As I said, any number of sharp pointed tools have been used to do this. But just remember. Anywhere you touch that tool to the surface will leave enough of an impression , or mark, that will show up on the final design.
It doesn't take much. And varying the amount of pressure to either a series of dots for shading, or scratches for your outline will change the look of the design. Naturally a very light scratch on the surface will appear light. Press hard and make a deeper scratch and it'll appear very dark. A bit of practice will show you just how much pressure to use for a design.
Now once you scratch in your design simply use a Sharpie, Ink ( what has been used for centuries) paint, dyes etc. and allow it to flow into the scratches, dots, you just made for your design. Let it set a moment and wipe it away.
I happen to use the Sharpie Paint. Not a regular sharpie. Using Renwax ( as it has some thinner in it) allowed me to wipe away the excess paint. If you use acrylics,, use a dampened cloth. Depending on the ink, alcohol or whatever will thin the ink you're using to wipe away the excess.

Now this scratching in a design isn't done all in one step. First you scratch the outlines. Add the ink/paint, wipe it away and rub some wax on the surface.
For a single color this isn't as important as if you're using several colors that you want to keep separate. For example. You may scratch in an outline and color it with black. You wipe the completed design with wax. Then you go back and scratch , dot in some more of the design and you color it with say, red.
Wipe away the red and apply another coat of wax. Doing this will now block out both the black and the red in your design so you can add more scratches, dots and add another color for example , blue. Wipe off the blue and you'll now see black, red, and blue without the blue filling in all the dots and scratches left when you did the black and the red.
Cool huh?
So you just keep doing this over and over adding more detail until the design is completed.
In this case the fine pinstripe and Fleur de Lis type detail had to be done in one smooth line. You only have one chance to get it right as you can't simple erase a stray line. You have to sand the entire area if you do an 'OOPS' . So hold your breath and give it a go.

The remainder of the designs on the scales, the Cathedral Sacre Coure and the Eiffel Tower were done in the same fashion. A few lines to establish the outlines. Wax. Add some more details, paint, wipe, wax. Do it over and over again until the design is complete. Here is a reference to see the size of the design. It fits easily under a dime. The Eiffel Tower is slimmer than the sharpened pencil point.

The last shot shows some other scales I have made using these very same techniques.
The barber pole is an example of using layers of colors as I described in the scrimshaw techniques.Blocking out one color so the next color you apply doesn't settle into the scratches, dots you added previously.
This can be taken to an extreme where the final design looks as if a color photo was somehow glued on to the scale or handle in the case of a knife.

Thanks for the awesome write up & details on your process
wish I could readily get Ivory on Australia to try these techniques on
I assume bone would work much the same way for the scrimshaw also?? just a bit more porus

Yeah, Ivory is getting tricky. And it'll only get worse. Everything I have is pre ban. But if you can scratch the surface you can scrimshaw it. Bone works but can tend to get a bit fuzzy and if not sealed well , and depending in the piece , the pores show up. But like I said if you can scratch it you can put a design on it. I saw a PVC chair, one of those cheapie stacking one that was scrimshawed.
And here is a design I started of the bow of a sailing ship on a Bic lighter. Hey, it's practice.

So acrylic, plastics, Tagua nuts ( small but looks like Ivory and is vegetable based) horn.
Well, like I said, if you can scratch it you can lay on a design.

Your work is beyond great without question, those scales are fantastic.
Only thing I would have changed was to use a better Blade for that work of art,JMO