Thread: Repair or replace?

Originally Posted by Clayglen

If they are bone I'll probably relace them. That was my second guess after plastic. Someone posted a set just like these that was ivory, which got me to wondering. It would be worth it to me, to save ivory.

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Always good to try saving everything.
Replace them.! Then you'll have a set to learn to repair on, or cut down for a shorty project. [emoji6]

Looks like ivory to me. In general, if there are no practical issues I tend to leave it be. Wedge cracks in ivory scales are an example of something I don't mess with (unless the scale tension is messed up, but I found that is usually not the case with cracks).

Hard to really tell on my phone but the bottom one looks like ivory and doesn't seem to have a collar, can't tell about the top one. I have nothing to offer as far as fixing them but as for identifying ivory, it is generally much thinner than bone and bone usually has visible pores where ivory doesn't. Also ivory will have Schregar lines which is more pronounced on some scales than others. I agree with Pithor about leaving them be unless they become problematic. I have a CV Heljestrand with ivory scales and one is chipped with a small crack but it doesn't really bother me and I would likely make it worse if I tried to fix it. Also one of my ivory John Barber pair has a crack similar to yours and I'll leave it be unless it worsens which it doesn't seem to be doing. You can see the Schregar lines pretty well in this pic too. Best of luck with whatever you choose to do.

I really like tp leave things original when possible, but that's just me. I would go with the CA and backing soda fix. I have a matching pair of Joseph Rodgers & Sons in Ivory scales that one has a crack at the wedge end. I just took a few drops of CA (gel type) on a tooth pick and smeared into the crack mainly to prevent the crack from spreading. After the CA dried I sanded fairly smooth to match surface of the scale, you can still see the crack but I'm confident the crack won't spread any further.