Work @ home - make big bucks - carving IVORY! (Anchorage: kitchen cabinets, live in)

[SityData]

This is one of the very few times we have duplicate bracelets; Orange & Brown fossils mixed together. Two of these were just finished today.




















This is where the bracelet cord terminates. One side of One piece has holes just a bit larger just for 1/8" deep to hide the knots.


The cord is tied; super-glued; cut & the knots pushed into the larger openings. I will try and obtain better detailed images next bracelet.

[SityData]

When I posted the last set of images; It was late @ night- I was tired and I forgot to mention the super glue all over khris' & Marks fingers.

Nail polish remover or acetone will quickly remove any residue from your skin. We have never had to resort to that. The boys merely peel it off. It wears off while working also. Just don't ever get any of that stuff near your eyes. Treat it with proper caution and above all - Learn to be safety minded in your work habits.



The boys are using long drill bits here; which can be dangerous. There is always the chance of drilling right through your finger if you are not careful or not focused or paying proper attention. It is best to have a drill bit shortened so that it can only penetrate 1/2 or 3/4 of the way through the bracelet piece.



The lines are a guide for the drill bit to run parallell with. The hole is next to the line. The right side of the hole in the bracelet piece lines up with the line. You do not drill through that line - not in this shape piece. The hole is placed against the line. You can easily see that there is no room to drill on the other side of the line.



As I have said in the past; When stringing up a bracelet. One side of only one piece has the holes enlarged. We do not use a drill bit to accomplish this step. We use a diamond burr bit like so:



This enlarged hole is only deep enough to hide the knots made to fasten the cord(s) together firmly.

[SityData]

I am posting photographs of all our work and our techinques.

I am even going to post - our worst !! Yes ! I will show you that occasionaly we create a bracelet that has 'flaws' such as 'gaps' in the insets. This is one such bracelet - made by Khris (the youngest).

This bracelet is gorgeous - this is the stuff that smelled just like orange cheese popcorn when it was being sanded.

The insets are magnified 3x (approx) you can see gaps in different places. I will post images of all angles. In real life - they are almost invisible to the naked eye. I little super glue and the right color dust and they will become truely invisible.




As we replace our tools with much better ones we will show you different techinques for doing the same simple tasks. Your work is only as good as the tools you use. Using the right tool for the right job makes things much easier and faster.

[SityData]

After not working for a year and a half the boys are inspired to get back to work.

During the month of April we sold about 18 bracelts and made just over 2,500

Now it is May in just four days we have passed that amount in sales. Money wise. We have not sold 20 bracelets, yet this month, in fact we have sold 12 bracelets to collect over 2,700 bux in just two days time.

Tudor Bingo, Native Hospital, Nana Corporation, are the three places that purchased everything we had on hand. Friday we will have more inventory ready to sell this week.

The only reason I post this information is to show you how easy it is to make outrageous $$. I choose my words carefully - My purpose is to inspire you to 'build up inventory'.

When we acquire money - we purchase more ivory and more tools.

Today we purchased the much needed 12" sander. This is essential to make perfect circles to inset. Unless you spin that inset, you cannot possibly achieve a 'perfect' circle, it is very difficult. The last finished bracelet I posted is a perfect example.






This sander provides us with 2 valuable features that we just cannot accomplish in any other manner.

• It provides a way to spin the ivory disk to produce a perfect circle.
• This sander provides a quick adjust buttom in which to set the precise angle of the bracelet pieces much more accurately than using a dremel.

We have; in the past purchased six of these from AIH. 3 for Point Hope and we traded them when we left. 3 more new ones in Barrow which we just gave away. Now we have the first of 3 for our new shop here in Anchorage.

Someone recently asked me about 'belt buckles'.. .. YES - you name it - we can make it. We do a lot of custom order work for our customers. The most unusual request we ever had was an ivory/baleen BOW, as in a bow & arrow. The major portion of the bow was made out of baleen (for flexibility) and the middle portion was a detailed ivory grip.

IN THE NEWS: Glennallen - one native and two white men were busted by the FBI for illegally laundering ivory. They would sell their crafts and use the $$ to purchase weapons !! It was in the news two days ago about this bust.

[SityData]

Remember those arc type shapes that we had left over from the mastodon tusk that fell apart ? Here are two pieces that have been trimmed and ready to make a spiral type design. I was WRONG; in thinking that Khris wrapped a piece of string around the piece. NO! just draw the lines like so, then hollow or carve them out using a burr cutting bit.




NOtice the crossed lines embedded into the ivory. The criss cross patterns tell of how many years. Looking inside the criss cross patterns is how to determine the months. This information was obtained from the owner of the Alaska Fur Exchange. Years - months- weeks can be determined by reading the patterns. for reading information inside the criss cross, you need a microscope.





Take your time - making these; make sure you do each side or groove evenly. the whole idea here it get each piece to match evenly. Round off the sharp edges when finished to produce a wonderful different type of ear-ring not usually seen.

And of course things are happening much faster - much smoother now that we have our main tool back - the 12 inch disc sander. Two different types grits we use with this. 50 grit & 120 grit. The disc's are adhesive backed to stick on firmly. These discs cost about 2.50 each. they last for about 100 bracelets. The sander itself is whisper quiet when running.



We tried using that small Skil sander we recently purchased; it is too loud when running. It did not meet our needs at all for the way we work. Isaiah has been using that type sander for 8 years. He recently purchased a new one and was telling us how much he liked it - we decided to give it a try. NOPE! too much noise for inside this apt home.



This unit is a pleasure to work with- it gets the job finished quickly without any effort what so ever.


Placing a piece against this sander; provides a very smooth surface to draw the shapes on in a matter of seconds.

[SityData]

Each day is now a joy to work in the shop; the only thing we lack is dust control systems and the new furniture I have been designing in 3D Studio Max.



RELAX: in each image; the saw was shut off to create these images. Mark is using another piece of ivory on the left side of the blade to hold the ivory from moving. His fingers are never in the way.



This Skil saw is much nicer than the old model saws we used. The laser light is just so awesome for making precise cuts everytime effortlessly.



With this new sander; It will be very easy for each of the boys to whip out 2 or even three bracelets per day. ALL I want; is one per day from each of them = 90 bracelets @ the end of the month (total).

Fifteen - Twenty thousand per month is a nice amount to rake in; I am sure you will agree. Get busy - this is just the easiest way in the world to make big Bucks. At this present moment; 2 of the boys are @ Tudor Bingo this evening. They have 3 bracelets to sell.



Two of the bracelets are plain white ivory; The third is pictured above.

[SityData]

Makes all the difference in the world. Tasks that would take hours now take just a few minutes if that.




We have new ivory coming in from Kotzebue (fossil) and more coming in from Point Hope. Baleen & White Raw Walrus Ivory.

[Mary Thomson]

I really admired the bracelets which are beautifully designed and shared in the post in this forum and the picture in the post is looking very attractive as well,i appreciate to the creator of these amazing bracelets and i want to purchase one among these if possible.

[SityData]

Thank you for your wonderful comments Mary; Look at the top right corner of this page, You will notice you have 1 Notification;

Thanks Again !!

[SityData]

Here are the finished pieces of those Arc type pieces.



Khris is usually the only one who makes these; All my sons make them but Khris makes them most of the time. They sell quick for $50 per set.

Made from Mastodon Ivory.