Sacre Bleu, it's Sacre Coeur. Making ivory scales

I was able to snag a couple of French razors for an idea I had. This one , stamped Imbert Aine, Monmartre Paris fit the bill as it's one of my favorite parts of Paris. Being a faux frameback adds a bit to it as well.
I cleaned up the blade. The leg of the letter "P" and the bottom of the "S" were missing due to some rusting so I etched them back in place. Now the word is complete and legible.
Now for the scales.
Making plain ivory scales is straight forward. But after seeing some of the pieces in that massive auction , and this being French I had to do something a bit fancier.
I sketched out a design, transferred it to the Ivory stock ( yes, it's all pre-ban) cut it out on the band saw.

Here I used needle files and sandpapers to refine the outline. I'll show how I cut in the design in the next post.

Here I used commonly available diamond cutters in a Dremel type tool. I figured with the tools we have available why not use these? They're cheap ( I think these were in the $15.00 range. Then too you could use knives, small chisels just as they used for the past hundreds of years in China to carve ivory. Doesn't have to be high tech. But I'm basically lazy and want instant results.

You can see the progression of cuts and them getting refined.

Next up is smoothing and detailing the carving. I cut an eraser and by wrapping sandpaper around it I'm able to reach into some fairly tight spaces. For further detailing I sharpened an Xacto blade and used it in a scraping motion. It removes quite a bit of stock and leaves a nice surface.

Just incredible skill...

Now since these started out a shy 1/8 as I needed the thickness for parts of the carving the rest of the scale has to be brought down to a thinner thickness. Using the cutters, knives, and sandpaper I was able to remove the extra stock from the scale.

Oh wowww

Since I had fun with the Barber Pole razor I decided to add some art work and trim detail to this piece as well. For scrimshaw you need nothing more than a needle or pin stuck into a small dowel to act as a scribe. Lets face it. The sailors from 100 yrs ago did it with knives, pins, awls , or whatever they had handy to decorate Ivory as they sailed around chasing Whales.
I happened to have a mechanical pencil and simply took a shot 1/16 drill bit and sharpened the end ( not the drill bit end ) to a point and I was good to go.
Any place you touch the ivory with this point will show up as a mark later. To do the pinstripe you have only one chance to do it right as you can't really erase any mistakes. Well, you can resand but in something like the small portraits I did on the wedge ends whatever mark is made is there to stay.
As far as colors go anything from Ink ( the old standby) paints, dyes etc, can be used. Sharpies work too.
In this case I used the Sharpie Paint instead of a typical Sharpie.
The process is simple as can be. Scratch a design or use dots. Wipe with the Ink, or paint, and then wipe it off. Having Renwax or some other wax is then applied. This blocks the design so you can go back and add more details. Poke, scratch with the sharp tool, add Ink, wipe and just keep doing this over and over. The wax prevents ink from sticking in previously done areas. This is especially needed if you're doing colors.

So what did I end up with? An interesting razor I think. The two brass pins in the center are merely for decoration and balance to the piece.
Since I used the black paint I decided to use a black horn wedge. And like typical Ivory scales no washers were used.
On the facing scale I did a sketch of Sacre-Coeur, the Cathedral on Monmartre. Seemed fitting as this is the address stamped on the tang.
On the reverse of course I did the Eiffel Tower.

Here is a shot with a common pencil for scale. The entire sketch fits under a dime.

Since the Barber Pole hasn't shipped yet ( he's on vacation ) I took a shot with my carved, scrimshawed Ivories that I've made.

Besides the band saw, Dremel etc. which many have it doesn't have to break the bank, or take lots of tools to do this type of work. The only odd ball pieces are the diamond cutters. But even Harbor Freight has them at silly prices. Other than that, a needle or pin, some ink, sandpaper polishing compound and you're off and running.
If you have reservations about Ivory, bone, acrylic, and many other materials can be carved as well as scrimshawed.

You are a bit sick (in a really good way ofc ), but your work is fantastic, it is really inspiring for me. I am sure that I will try my hand at something like this in the future!

wow...


Thanks a lot for documenting and sharing your process with us!!

Thank you again! And right back at you Jeness. Your work inspired me to get a 2 X72 grinder and an Evenheat kiln to go along with my scales. Hopefully it'll work out OK.

pmaster said:

wow...


Thanks a lot for documenting and sharing your process with us!!

Click to expand...

My pleasure. It's neat because it's low tech and low bucks but yields interesting results. The possibilities are endless.

Stunning work, Mark. You always find a way to outdo yourself (and just about everyone else )

Nicely done!

"The process is simple as can be" You certainly make it look that way Mark; beautiful work!

Amazing work, Mark. Thanks for sharing a peek behind the curtain.

That's amazing. Really amazing. The talent it takes! Well done!

Thank you gentlemen!