pipemakersforum.com

I've been given a bunch of pre-embargo ivory, cutoff from pieces cut from 1/4" slabs, so the pieces I have are "quartersawn," if that makes any sense. Ivory I've used before has been cut at 90 degrees to the tusk -- like if you sliced off the end, then cut the circle for the floc out of that slice. What I have is from slicing the tusk lengthwise, then cutting the circles out of that slice. Ivory has a tendency to crack, of course, and a few of these pieces cracked before I could coat them with thin cyanoacrylate glue. None have cracked since, but I was just wondering what y'all use to stabilize ivory. My plan was to coat the pieces with cyanoacrylate at the end of each machining step, since the stuff soaks in a little bit.

iIdont use anything to stabalize ivory when i use it, it does have a tendancy to crack over time, i have been told. Sometimes it takes a long time to form cracks. I have a pipe that i made with ivory on it 3 years ago with nothing on it but carnuba wax and it hasnt cracked yet, ( fingers crossed) .