Ease That Tooth Ache. Show Off Some Ivory

[OPSEC-C-C]

Let's see some Ivory. This set, a Gerber Special Edition Ivory Knives Mark I & Mark II, are from the early to mid 1980's. They were made by Northwest Arts and Crafts of Seattle, WA. Not very many were made, and the Eagle was the most common handle. Supposedly a Bear, Lion, Alligator and Griffon were available. I have only seen the Alligator. Let's see some of your Ivory handled knives!

 

[Mk-211]

I was talking to one of the guys I work with. He sent me a picture, of one that he has.

 

[Synov]

Hossom Au Eli in crosscut blue mammoth ivory.

 

[Horsewright]

I use to work a lot in ivory, (mammoth). As of July 1, 2016 I was no longer able to do so here in Cali. They banned mammoth tooth too at the same time. It was kind of a big hit business wise as about 20 percent of the knives I was making at the time were mammoth ivory or tooth. So some pics from long ago:

Gotta be honest though. Don't really miss the mammoth tooth it was a PITA to work with:

 

[oldmanwilly]

I use to work a lot in ivory, (mammoth). As of July 1, 2016 I was no longer able to do so here in Cali. They banned mammoth tooth too at the same time. It was kind of a big hit business wise as about 20 percent of the knives I was making at the time were mammoth ivory or tooth. So some pics from long ago:

Gotta be honest though. Don't really miss the mammoth tooth it was a PITA to work with:

Do the [presumably] good folks in Sacramento know that mammoths have been extinct for at least a few thousand years?

As always, beautiful work.

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

I use to work a lot in ivory, (mammoth). As of July 1, 2016 I was no longer able to do so here in Cali. They banned mammoth tooth too at the same time. It was kind of a big hit business wise as about 20 percent of the knives I was making at the time were mammoth ivory or tooth. So some pics from long ago:

Gotta be honest though. Don't really miss the mammoth tooth it was a PITA to work with:

I’m glad they did, the demand might make them go extinct

Beautiful knives sir.

 

[Danke42]

Do the [presumably] good folks in Sacramento know that mammoths have been extinct for at least a few thousand years?

As always, beautiful work.

That might be changing but the issue is with poachers re-branding elephant ivory as mammoth. It takes a destructive DNA test of the item to know what it is.

So once again the problem is humans.

Only one I got.

 

[OPSEC-C-C]

1950's Randall 2-7

 

[Monofletch]

Pete Truncali

 

[Horsewright]

Do the [presumably] good folks in Sacramento know that mammoths have been extinct for at least a few thousand years?

As always, beautiful work.

I’m glad they did, the demand might make them go extinct

Beautiful knives sir.

That might be changing but the issue is with poachers re-branding elephant ivory as mammoth. It takes a destructive DNA test of the item to know what it is.

So once again the problem is humans.

Only one I got.

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Yep it really was about smuggling ivory and being able to prove that one was elephant ivory and not mammoth. But it was sold as saving elephants from being poached. I ended up talking with the guy in charge of enforcing this law. Met him at a show where we had our booth set up. Interestingly he was already a customer, he had a couple of my knives. Not only were the DNA tests destructive but they were prohibitively expensive. If they had a smuggler with say 100 lil statues they'd have to test each one. Now they don't have to prove its elephant ivory.

 

[Delgadonine]

I didn't know I was Vitamin I deficient until now.

 

[DMG]

Do the [presumably] good folks in Sacramento know that mammoths have been extinct for at least a few thousand years?

As always, beautiful work.

I lived in California and my dad still does. I can tell you with some certainty that they want to protect the endangered mammoth and that if there was ever a zombie apocalypse, Californians would start a zombie rights organization.

 

[jmh33]

 

[lambertiana]

I use to work a lot in ivory, (mammoth). As of July 1, 2016 I was no longer able to do so here in Cali. They banned mammoth tooth too at the same time. It was kind of a big hit business wise as about 20 percent of the knives I was making at the time were mammoth ivory or tooth. So some pics from long ago:

Do the [presumably] good folks in Sacramento know that mammoths have been extinct for at least a few thousand years?

The first cross cut that you showed looks like mastodon instead of mammoth. The Schreger line intersection angle for mastodon is very similar to modern elephant while for mammoth it is significantly different.

That might be changing but the issue is with poachers re-branding elephant ivory as mammoth. It takes a destructive DNA test of the item to know what it is.

So once again the problem is humans.

Only one I got.

The only time the identification can be made without destructive and expensive testing is when the cross cut is clearly visible. The schreger lines are very distinctive for mammoth, as seen in @Synov’s knife. It gets harder with mastodon because it looks like modern elephant.

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

The first cross cut that you showed looks like mastodon instead of mammoth. The Schreger line intersection angle for mastodon is very similar to modern elephant while for mammoth it is significantly different.



The only time the identification can be made without destructive and expensive testing is when the cross cut is clearly visible. The schreger lines are very distinctive for mammoth, as seen in @Synov’s knife. It gets harder with mastodon because it looks like modern elephant.

I had read that myself in the past.

As a side note I think elephants will be fine. There’s nearly half a million left in Africa.

 

[Danke42]

The first cross cut that you showed looks like mastodon instead of mammoth. The Schreger line intersection angle for mastodon is very similar to modern elephant while for mammoth it is significantly different.



The only time the identification can be made without destructive and expensive testing is when the cross cut is clearly visible. The schreger lines are very distinctive for mammoth, as seen in @Synov’s knife. It gets harder with mastodon because it looks like modern elephant.

Ah, King Solomon as a customs agent.

We'll just saw that knife in half and look at the insides,,,

 

[lambertiana]

Ah, King Solomon as a customs agent.

We'll just saw that knife in half and look at the insides,,,

As I said, it only works when the cross cut is already visible, like Synov’s knife above. No need to saw it in half.

 

[lambertiana]

Ah, King Solomon as a customs agent.

We'll just saw that knife in half and look at the insides,,,

CITES has a nice identification guide. I’ve seen similar things from US Fish & Wildlife but I can’t find it now.

https://cites.org/sites/default/files/ID_Manuals/Identification_Guide_for_Ivory_and_Ivory_Substitutes_ENGLISH.pdf

 

[Danke42]

As I said, it only works when the cross cut is already visible, like Synov’s knife above. No need to saw it in half.

What percent of the knives have the cross cut visible? Is it a lot or a little?

 

[lambertiana]

What percent of the knives have the cross cut visible? Is it a lot or a little?

This conversation between us is a recurring theme every time there is a thread about ivory. You know the answer as well as I do that cross cut is not as common. But there have been three examples posted in this thread, and I have seen many more, as I am sure you have too. No need to keep rehashing this, especially when I already say that Schreger lines can only be used when the cross cut is visible.