Ivory, Horn, & Palm Ivory Gallery
Raw Materials

 

Water buffalo horn is a pretty good material for those who don't like art. ivory or who can't afford ivory. It can be worked and finished, but because of its nature does have flaws. It is soft and when being worked smells much worse than even ivory.
buffhorn.jpg (63194 bytes)
Raw buffalo horn.		 mphornbulbsouptonuts.jpg (63242 bytes)
Stages of mouthpiece bulbs,
buffalo horn.		  
 
Ivory samples.

Ivory slabs. A mount is in back and ferrule in front. They are threaded and ready for putting on the pipe. Then they will be shaped.		 tusks.jpg (46409 bytes)
Three tusks.

 

 ivrysoleblanks.jpg (38919 bytes)ivrysoleblankthread.jpg (43963 bytes)ivrysolethreadfrtopclose.jpg (39604 bytes)ivrysoleblanks2thread1hole.jpg (49750 bytes)
Threaded & faced ivory soles, ready for making.
 

Raw ivory pieces for #6A or #6 set. Half mounted.
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All the pieces to make up the set: 8 mounts, 3 underbushes, 4 hemp stops (each to be cut in half), and 1 mouthpiece bulb.		 ivrypucksingle1.jpg (27546 bytes)ivrypucksingle2.jpg (61007 bytes)ivryrawtip.jpg (55107 bytes)
Two "hockey pucks" for projecting mounts and a tip for the mouthpiece bulb.		  
 

Raw ivory pieces for #5A or #5 set. Full mounted.
ivoryfullsetwithtip.jpg (41314 bytes)       416 kb
The ivory for a set with tuning slides and fancy mouthpiece. The eight mounts are at the rear, nine ferrules to the right, and ring caps and bushes to the left rear. All except the pipe chanter sole come from the same tusk.		 ivoryfullset.jpg (46570 bytes)        400 kb
This set will make a plain #5, i.e. no silver.		 ivoryfullnotipnosole.jpg (24180 bytes)
A full set of ivory, threaded and faced.
 
Mammoth Ivory.
mammoth1.jpg (34928 bytes)
A section of mammoth ivory,
about 10,000 years old.		 mammothsoleraw1.jpg (65533 bytes)
A rare piece with only two cracks.
470 kb		 mammothsoleraw2.jpg (46428 bytes)      500 kb
Two hockey pucks for pipe chanter soles. The gaping cracks are ubiquitous in mammoth ivory, and here they are manageable by drilling the hole slightly off center to use as much of the intact section as possible.