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Are these ivory?

I will have to look more into them when I get home. Right now I’m stuck in the hospital from a procedure and they won’t let me home due to high blood pressure. Hopefully tomorrow I will be home.
 
Take care brother and get well soon.

I just got home today, ok here is a bit of info on the scales, someone was selling four setson ebay for 15.00. 1 was celluloid, 1 was bakelite, 1was bone and the other was this set. To me i questioned this setof scales because they looked so unique and ive never hada set quite like it. I will do a hot pin test in a few days, onceim feeling better.

Larry
 
Did hot pin test, didn’t melt one bit, here is a pic of the back side of the scales.
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the mystery deepens!

Larry
 
They are saw marks, leading me to believe they are bone. I do have to say ive never seen ones like them before esp with a grain pattern.
 
The saw marks, the schreger lines, no capillary holes, passed the hot pin test... What else needs to happen before we admit ivory may sometimes be a little thicker than usual? :laugh:
 
The saw marks, the schreger lines, no capillary holes, passed the hot pin test... What else needs to happen before we admit ivory may sometimes be a little thicker than usual? :laugh:
Yeah, ivory can be thicker and you can see lines from different angles so I don't think those are reliable standards to go by. They look like ivory to me.
Too bad more ivory scales were not cut thicker. They wouldn't crack as easy.


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The saw marks, the schreger lines, no capillary holes, passed the hot pin test... What else needs to happen before we admit ivory may sometimes be a little thicker than usual? :laugh:

Thats what made me doubt these, but when I saw the grain pattern and saw that the also had contours thats what made me question these scales. Cant believe that they are what they are and how I got them.

Yeah, ivory can be thicker and you can see lines from different angles so I don't think those are reliable standards to go by. They look like ivory to me.
Too bad more ivory scales were not cut thicker. They wouldn't crack as easy.


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Which is why I'm saving these scales for a special blade when it comes my way, once they are on they aren't coming off. I do have to admit the guy who unpinned these knew what he was doing....he sanded/cut the pins cleanly and didn't damage the scales at all. All I had to do was pull on the pin and they came right out.

Larry
 
After you give them a good cleaning I would condition them with mineral oil if you have it on hand.
That is great the guy that unpinned them didn't crack them.
 
After you give them a good cleaning I would condition them with mineral oil if you have it on hand.
That is great the guy that unpinned them didn't crack them.

Hmmm I would never put mineral oil or any oil on Ivory that's if they are or not, as oil with send Ivory translucent so you really need to think about that first. I dot know if you could use Neat's foot oil but I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong....

As for unpinning those the Guy did a great job, I would not do it in fear of cracking them.....
 
After you give them a good cleaning I would condition them with mineral oil if you have it on hand.
That is great the guy that unpinned them didn't crack them.

I will clean them in due time, they really aren’t in bad shape. All 4 of the scales I received, the pin was removed in the same way. Must of had some knowledge of what he was doing.

Hmmm I would never put mineral oil or any oil on Ivory that's if they are or not, as oil with send Ivory translucent so you really need to think about that first. I dot know if you could use Neat's foot oil but I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong....

As for unpinning those the Guy did a great job, I would not do it in fear of cracking them.....

I believe it’s mineral oil to use and that neatsfoot will make them translucent. I will check before I do anything tho. As of right now, they just need a good clean up a light polish and they should be good to go. I’m excited to find a really special blade to put between them. Need to find that 1 special one that needs scales.:001_cool:

Larry
 
Hmmm I would never put mineral oil or any oil on Ivory that's if they are or not, as oil with send Ivory translucent so you really need to think about that first. I dot know if you could use Neat's foot oil but I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong....

As for unpinning those the Guy did a great job, I would not do it in fear of cracking them.....
Mineral oil is fine for ivory. Mine that are wiped down with mineral oil look great. I haven't tried neats foot oil since it is brown colored and I didn't want to risk staining them.
 
I have a set of ivory scales that are at least twice the thickness as normal. I thought the were plastic until the dremel hit them. I hope to one day run across some tortoise scales. That would be nice. Enjoy and good luck.
 
Without doing a pin test I need your guys opinion if these are ivory or not. They aren’t as thick as bone and under bright light they look like as pictured below. What do you guys think? The pattern is doesn’t look man made as all, there is no similarity in pattern and when there is no light on them you don’t see the waves.

Larry

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Considering the wide creamy lines and the narrower darker lines,
what I look for,
is the branching in the narrower darker lines,
to indicate ivory.

A discontinuity in the narrower darker lines,
can cause apparent branching
in the wider creamy lines in celluloid,
which is why I don't look for that.
 
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