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June 9, 1997

What a crazy process. So many opinions about carving the tusk. No one I've been able to talk to has actually carved a whole tusk, but many have worked chunks of ivory and two people have worked at restoring the tusks. Others feel that it is almost sacrilege to carve something so old.

I've done a little research about mammoth ivory and discovered that there were millions of mammoths living accross the northern world. Millions of tons of ivory were buried in Siberia, Alaska and Yukon, much of it waiting to be discovered. The Siberians have been exporting their "white gold" across Asia for centuries. There is certainly no shortage of the material. In fact, it is used in the place of elephant ivory, easing the pressure on our largest land mammal.

This tusk is rare, in that it is a large, complete tusk. That makes the tusk more valuable but not "sacred".

I have decided to go ahead with the carving, taking my chances on the unstable nature of the material. My reasoning being, that if successful, I will have learned how to carve a tusk in the whole. Otherwise, I'll still have 140 lbs of ivory to turn into smaller carvings. It is a journey into the unknown, exciting and a little scary. Life is too short to always play it safe ...

I learned that the tusk was formed in layers and held together by a natural adhesive. This adhesive usually deteriorates over time, causing the delaminating of the tusk. It seems that the best replacement for this natural glue is a form of pure superglue, called "ZAP CA+". This glue penetrates into the cracks and crevices, bonding with the surface and replacing the natural glues. We'll see how it works. I've also purchased a penetrating silicone grout sealant. This is to be used on the finished surfaces to seal them against humidity changes and loss of moisture from within the tusk.

Enough talk. Time to dig in and see where it takes me.

Till next time,

Shane

Copyright © 1997 - 2006 Shane Wilson