Thread: Clear coating of natural scale materials

I wonder if anyone has experience in coating Ivory, mop, abalone scales, esp those with metal liners? I have been working on some and do not want to mess them up! I wonder about CA or acrylic? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

Well, I have had this question up for days. No takers?
I seem to be on my own on this so I am experimenting on broken scale bits with CA. Seems to work well so far. Need to sand and recoat, sand and polish.
Still, if anyone can comment, I would appreciate it!

The only natural scales I've worked on are horn, bone and Ivory. All I do is clean them, run the micro-mesh pads from 1500 through 12000 (if needed) and put on a little renaissance wax. Seems to hold up just fine. Good Luck.

I'm just wondering why you would need to coat these materials. Pretty sure the ones I've seen in the past weren't coated.
This guy used to do a few : http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...-finished.html

I can tell you Ivory is never coated. An application of oil a couple times a year left on maybe 20 minutes and then wiped off and it will wear well forever.

What kind of oil would you use?

Right now I'm experimenting with epoxy resin on bone. In this case "art work" is being painted on the bone, and want to leave a protected finish.

I agree in normal application, the natural finish on solid natural material requires no additional finish.

If putting a veneer on a liner, then a coating is good.

Originally Posted by Sailinblues

The only natural scales I've worked on are horn, bone and Ivory. All I do is clean them, run the micro-mesh pads from 1500 through 12000 (if needed) and put on a little renaissance wax. Seems to hold up just fine. Good Luck.

I am hip to that, Sailinblues. I have created a Frankenstein Ivory/pearl scale and want to clear coat it for consistancy. I have discovered that the CA makes ivory shine! So does a polish and renaissance wax! Thanks so much! I love your SOTD posts, by the way

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I can tell you Ivory is never coated. An application of oil a couple times a year left on maybe 20 minutes and then wiped off and it will wear well forever.

I understand and agree with you.But, what if it WERE coated? I am finding out!

Originally Posted by dirtychrome

Right now I'm experimenting with epoxy resin on bone. In this case "art work" is being painted on the bone, and want to leave a protected finish.

I agree in normal application, the natural finish on solid natural material requires no additional finish.

If putting a veneer on a liner, then a coating is good.

Thank you.The epoxy resin sounds great and looks great as well. I need to have the patience for it to dry!