[Jewelry making - Article 00167] - Re: [Orchid] Carving fossil ivory

[Jim Laymon]

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    Cathy and others, With regard to discussion on the subject of ivory,
    particularly fossil ivory, I have some thoughts I might share. 

    Many years ago in 1973 a new friend saw some of my pen and ink
    drawings, and ask the question, "can you do that on ivory?" Of
    course, this old hayseed didn't even know what scrimshaw was. He
    introduced me to a finished piece, and suggested that if I could
    come up with a way of doing my work on the surface of polished
    ivory, he'd be willing to give me a shot at doing it on his custom
    knife handles. After much thought and extensive effort to make a
    workable tool for inscribing tiny lines and dots (there was no
    internet back then to search for "how to do"), I was able to finish
    a few somewhat elementary pieces on scrap. After showing them to my
    friend, the relationship of myself and the late James B. Lile the
    Arkansas Knifesmith had its beginnings. 

    I worked with the original tool I had made from a tool and die
    maker's scribe for a few weeks, but wasn't satisfied with the lines.
    They were rough along the edges, and when inked, had the appearance
    of a jeweler's saw blade. I bought then, a lozenge graver and did
    some reshaping of the tip to allow me to "push" the tool along the
    ivory surface instead of the "pulling" I was having to do with a
    scribe. Not to mention the "pulling" action kept many of my layout
    lines either in the shadow of my fingers, or under my hand
    altogether. This little bit of logic opened a new world for me to do
    detail. With my art background, I was able then to produce highly
    detailed engravings, when inked, looked very much like my pen and
    ink drawings. Of course, I had to remember my tool was providing a
    line about half or less than the width of a .2mm lead drafting
    pencil. On knife handles the width of a pencil line would be the
    difference of being in perspecitive or not, or a quails beak looking
    like a parrot. The "cutting" line I got from the now refined tool I
    had made provided an end to that little problem. 

    Whoever said, "necessity is the mother of invention" must have had a
    specific task to accomplish, and logically figured a way to make it
    better. Even today in my jewelry business, I find myself making
    little tools to accomplish a detail job rather than searching the
    catalogs for something that may or may not provide the satisfaction
    of a specific need, and the cost of which for a one time need, would
    be prohibitive. 

    Now the point of all this windyness....your little piece of ivory
    can be made into a "netsuke" as suggested by Leesilver, or you may
    elect to cut it into smaller slabs for polishing and making jewelry
    from it. Which is what I did with all my scrap, new ivory or fossil
    ivory....pendants and cabochons. Scrimshaw can be done with a little
    effort, alot of logic, and some art talent. You can have the
    satisfaction of making your own tools as well. If you would like to
    know the entire process of layout, engraving, inking, and final
    polishing, please let me know. I'm always happy to share any
    knowledge I have with others. 

Jim Laymon
Earth Gems
willowok AT cswnet.com  


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