Make Cool Stuff Carving IVORY! (Part Deux) (Butte, Circle: neighborhood, average cost)

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Tomorrow; is a day we have been waiting for - for quite a while. I will have many photos to post in the P.M. not to be confused with DM.

Its all about Ivory & Mastodon Ivory - quite a huge selection.











Until then; have a great day! (chuckle).

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Our "day" didn't happen on Monday or Tuesday; (sigh) so hopefully tomorrow will be the day.

On a much brighter note; the necklace I showed you before on a previous page is now in this state;



I will have an exact dupicate to insert into a new post using baleen instead of the fossil ivory.

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Today; something different - Creating a 'Ying / Yang' symbol out of Ivory & Baleen.

Two identical shapes must be created and joined together seamlessly to achieve the final result.



As an extra added touch Mark is going to insert one each of the opposite color in each side of the symbol



As you can see (below) the size we are working with here - is quite small. The overall size is just a tad bit larger than a quarter !



The final finished product - was delivered today to a shop owner in the Sear's Mall - She gave her approval and wants to order dozens more to ship to China!



Another; in a very long line of Satisfied Customers !

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Why ? work for someone else? when you can easily make so much more, by simply working at home.

These methods have been proven & tested in many different parts of the State of Alaska. In each and every case. Success is easily achieved - even by children!

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Making bracelets is very easy to accomplish. The same simple steps are repeated again & again. Eight times, Nine times or more.

The average size of a woman's wrist is 6 3/8 inches. You need a minimum of Eight pieces to make a bracelet. As many as 16 pieces or even more can be used to create that bracelet. It all depends on the size(s) you make those pieces.




Each piece must be exactly the same as the previous piece. Any devations and it will be immediately noticeable. Perfect.. .. is close enough!
Remove the excess ivory, by using files, sandpaper, a sanding machine, or a dremel bit for sanding etc. Do not erase that line. Up to.. but not including (portions of that line).




Walking to work; by merely going to a different room in your house;(to work) is the only way to travel. The amount of money you save is incredible. Not to mention the wasted time driving; back & forth.

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That 'day' we were waiting for (in previous recent posts) happened yesterday. We finally got to purchase the box we have been waiting for.

20 pounds of Mastodon Ivory.

Allow me to let you in on a little secret most people do not know.

They would never even ever consider doing something like this. But we know; from vast experience, how to stretch a buck to get what you want without having to pay through the nose for it.

Think different... Take the time!!! (that means MORE than 5 seconds)



Fossil Ivory is very expensive @ $280 per pound. Those are the prices @ Alaska Fur Exchange in Anchorage - they charge 5 times the NORM.

We refuse to pay those prices when we can get the same exact material for $50 a pound. That is the normal price throughout the arctic. It might be in some villages slightly higher but never 5 times the going rate. That is nothing cept ugly GREED.

Here is a method for YOU to substantially reduce that amount. Buy scraps and chips only!
$90 per pound is now the rate @ Alaska Fur Exchange

That is a much better way to purchase IF - you know what to purchase.

Mastodon ALWAYS falls apart. This is because 1. it is more than 25,000 years old or older! 2. It has lost all its moisture.






Mositure is easily put back into the ivory in several different methods and I suppose there are more, but the 3 we are aware of; Soak pieces in baby oil or mineral oil or wipe a coating onto the bigger pieces with vaseline.

If you are willing to invest in mastodon chips and such.. what do you look for ? Arcs - natural pieces in an arc like shape. buy as many as you can afford and make stunning ear-rings that sell for $80 and higher.

Some of the TREASURES we found in this box. Whoa !!

Over a dozen fossil ivory walrus teeth! Those right there are worth over 1,000 bux.

A dozen pre-fabricated doll faces in various stages of design.

Ivory Doll faces is a market that is wide open - No one is making them. Every village has many people that want these. They always call us to make them. Anyone who begins to make these simple faces is gonna clean up big time.

The Market is wide open in Barrow & Kotzebue and many local artists here in Anchorage are always looking for these for their dolls they make.

There is nothing hard about making an oval or circle and then begin to add detail. Sure it takes practice to learn how to make good looking faces. But.. children pick this up and learn very quickly and so can you.




It is going to take you less than a week to become very proficient making these simple twisted arc type ear-rings.

NOTICE: The wood like - bark like texture to mastodon ivory. When walking on any beach, if you spot that wood like texture. DON'T BE FOOLED. Take the time to .. kick it.. or pick it up. Wood is very light, even when wet. Mastodon is very heavy and extremely dense and of course - hard to the touch if you try and scrape it with your finger nail.


We sure were happy when we sorted through all this stuff. 20 days from from now I will show you the results

More information coming (soon).

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These are the Arc type pieces you want to find and purchase. Buy as many or as much as you can afford.


We will teach you.. ..step by simple step how to turn these into $.



First I want to have this piece sanded and polished to show you the unique incredible pattern that mastodon is so famous for. These interlocking overlapping circles will tell you the age of this piece of ivory.

The circles represent the years and inside the circles are diamonds which represent the months. One web site we were told about by the museum will explain how the exact age in years, months and days can easily be determined - but you need a powerful magnifying glass to observe and count these.

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Here is a finished sanded piece for the puroses of displaying the unique patterns.



Quite difficult to see here; but it is visible, when properly sanded and polished it has a 3d type apprearance that stands out very noticeably.

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Wrong again Mr. Warptman; it is entirely my fault. They have been doing the same thing every day. They love to work; they have lots of fun all day; Tis my fault for not taking photos and posting them. I am the one to blame here. Not them.

Thanks for your input and concern. We had to order another box of 100 bracelet boxes last week. Since April they have created and sold over 300 gorgeous bracelets. We are now starting box #4

20 days from now I will show you what they did. We begin tommorrow morning @ 6 am with the new ivory we purchased today. I'll post all the steps. and post the photographs. I'll save the finished bracelets for one group photo in 20 days.

The boys want that new Sharp Aquios 80" LCD HDTV for some serious game playing.

This is our busiest time of the year. (chuckle)!!

No one ever buys bracelets or ear-rings in the month of January!

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We begin by using scraps of ivory; and draw the shape of the bracelet piece we want to duplicate using one of our many different templates.

This is what we call, narrow /oval shape. Template.
This shape lends well for small circle insets or large oval insets.



Remember this tusk ? from a few pages ago? This is the "hollow" end.

we are just using the area(s) that are thick enough to be used for the template shape only.




These pieces will be "mixed" with other types of ivory, for the purpose of increasing our total yield. Instead of just making one bracelet using these pieces, we will add some darker mastodon for the fill in pieces. Thus instead of making two bracelets we now have four.

All ivory to the right - of those shapes, is much too thin to use for bracelet pieces. For all practical purposes it is not thick enough to use for anything. (unless you take the time to think). It is very useful, even though it is wafer thin....... what can you think of?