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  #1  
Old 10-04-2015, 08:32 PM
Kingoftusks Kingoftusks is offline
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Warthog tusk handle

Hello. New to this forum.

I have made a couple of knives out of deer antlers. Now I want to use warthog tusks and possibly a hippopotamus tusk for the same thing. I have seen pictures of such knives but no information as to specifically how they were made.

Does one simply cut some of the tang off, full the tusk with epoxy, and place the knife in there? Or is there some more sophisticated way of securing the knife and the tang ?
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  #2  
Old 10-05-2015, 08:26 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Depending on the size of the tusk or tooth you may have as much as half the size of the handle that will be hollow so filling with something will be necessary. I think many makers just do as you said but another way would be to fill the tusk first and let it set up. After the glue or other filling has set then treat it as you would any solid handle material........


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Old 10-06-2015, 07:12 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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Mix some kind of fiber filler with the epoxy (just like you'd do with fiberglass) Don't use quick set epoxy use quality stuff. Do as Ray suggested and fill void first, let cure out before drilling for a tang. This is one instance where I think a pin through handle/tang would be advisable, unless you are highly confident in your epoxy skills.


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  #4  
Old 10-06-2015, 10:39 AM
damon damon is offline
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treat like any other ivory, or handle material. as mentioned youll want to fill the hollow cavity in the tusk. pay attention to how much wall you leave when filling. as with any material youll want enough there to hold itself together, not split, and have room for trimming/finishing youll do to the outside. and im a big fan of pinning. I like to know my knife will stay together even if the epoxy doesn't.
which hippo tooth would you be working with? the smaller front teeth are a good size as they are just cut to length you want. the root end is hollow like the warthog, but the rest is solid. and, at 6"-8" there is plenty there to trim off the hollow end to work with mostly solid piece.
if one of the larger tusks, then you can cut them into slabs. just a tip..... ceramic belts for the sander, and 14tpi bimetal blade on the saw to cut that stuff. id once read it was the hardest of the ivories. well I sure found out. the large lower tusk I was working with was actually throwing sparks on the 36grit ceramic belt.
here are a couple of the hippo pieces. top one is hidden tang, and the bottom is full tang slab side

https://www.flickr.com/photos/oiseau...7629378096370/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/oiseau...7629378096370/
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Old 10-07-2015, 06:13 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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Damon's right on the hippo, that outside enamel is some serious hard stuff. The interior ivory is some of the finest grain ivory you can get and carves/scrims beautifully. Getting to it is the hard part.

Damon, kind of poked around on your flicker album. Hope you don't mind. Some very nice miniatures!
Do you set a table at the Blade Show? I usually don't miss the min-makers. Like to meet you sometime.


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  #6  
Old 10-07-2015, 06:46 AM
damon damon is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crex View Post
Damon's right on the hippo, that outside enamel is some serious hard stuff. The interior ivory is some of the finest grain ivory you can get and carves/scrims beautifully. Getting to it is the hard part.

Damon, kind of poked around on your flicker album. Hope you don't mind. Some very nice miniatures!
Do you set a table at the Blade Show? I usually don't miss the min-makers. Like to meet you sometime.
don't mind at all. thanks.
no im not able to afford a table/hotel/expenses/still have shopping$$$$$ for that show. id have to sell out of everything I have in stock, and thats a lot to hope for.
as a jeweler, the minis are a lot of fun to make. plus it uses up those scraps of the pricy materials. most of those were made for some "serious mini-knife collectors" but it turned out they were just jerking me around. at the local shows I set up at they work as good "eye catchers" but people tend to expect something that small should only cost $5-10
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Old 10-07-2015, 07:09 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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It is a special market for sure. Those that know know. The rest are just tire kickers. Phrase I hate the most "Those are so cute!" (yeah not a buyer's words). There are serious collectors out there - Mr. Lorenzo, Milano, Italy, has quite a few of mine in his personal collection.
Yepper the tables are expensive, but it's local (15 miles downhill) so it is a good show for me.
Wish I could say that you could sell them all at the Blade, but we all know better. Each year is a bit different.
Kind of tough until you get established with a good clientel.
Anyway, your min's are very well made and much better than a lot seen at the show. If you decide to visit the show next year, let me know early on and I'll save a couple of VIP's for you.


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Last edited by Crex; 10-07-2015 at 07:17 AM.
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Old 10-07-2015, 04:21 PM
damon damon is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crex View Post
It is a special market for sure. Those that know know. The rest are just tire kickers. Phrase I hate the most "Those are so cute!" (yeah not a buyer's words). There are serious collectors out there - Mr. Lorenzo, Milano, Italy, has quite a few of mine in his personal collection.
Yepper the tables are expensive, but it's local (15 miles downhill) so it is a good show for me.
Wish I could say that you could sell them all at the Blade, but we all know better. Each year is a bit different.
Kind of tough until you get established with a good clientel.
Anyway, your min's are very well made and much better than a lot seen at the show. If you decide to visit the show next year, let me know early on and I'll save a couple of VIP's for you.
thanks for the VIP offer. ill for sure keep that in mind. BLADE is a dangerous place to go for a poor maker like me. don't need the temptation of having to take out a 2nd mortgage. ;p

likewise if your up near the Bristol/Knoxville area, shoot me a message. ive got an acre out in the woods that's perfect for lighting a bonfire, and grilling something.
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belts, blade, epoxy, fire, fixed blade, full tang, glue, handle, handle material, hidden, hidden tang, ivory, knife, knives, made, make, makers, material, materials, pinning, sander, show, tang


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