Ivory Bead

[Breck Gorman]

I won an online auction for a dozen vintage butter knives. Not something that usually interests me, but these have ivory handles.
It can easily be proved that these were made over 100 years ago and are pre - ban.
I will be using the handles to make sight beads.
Here is the kicker to the story…. I was delighted to see where they were made!

[David Noble]

Good find Breck!
Will you be producing any of the beads for direct sales? I'd be interested in a few if so. Let me know! Thanks.

[Dean Romig]

Celluloid, first used in 1869, looks just like ivory. A red hot pin will show the difference.





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[chris dawe]

Or bone ,I have a couple english made ones that are bone

[TobyBoudreau]

Hi, I've just started making a few ivory beads. I have some mammoth ivory from my time in Alaska. I'm making them to similar specification to the beads previous sold by several of the parts outlets. .0157 bead with a 0.120 shaft. I am also making ivory mid beads. 0.080 diameter with a cone shaped base. See pictures. I'm asking $30 with shipping and tax for a front bead and $25 for a mid bead. I am also open to trying to make custom sizes to your specifications. If you are interested or want to chat about them, please shoot me a message with your number and I will call you.

[Elvin Ehrhardt]

Hello Breck, I’m a new member and I’ve been told you’re the man I need to talk with about refurbishing Damascus barrels. I have a recently acquired Parker DH that was manufactured in 1893 I’m refurbishing and wanted to bring those old barrels back to their original beauty. They are in good shape with shiny bores, bell tone when hung and tapped and no major damage other than a very tiny dent on right a few inches above the forend. What does it run for such ? By the way I have another ivory source if you need more to work with. A gentleman I met some years ago in Alaska. I purchased mammoth ivory from him for use in making grips for my 1911. His website where he the ivory is: https://www.milesofalaska.com/mammoth-ivory-scales.html He has various colors of the ivory from white to blues that he stabilizes with a clear epoxy. It is a bit smelly cutting and polishing it but it turns out really nice.

[Bill Murphy]

I buy ivory and similar products from Boone Trading Company, but their beads don't have stalks. They have a variety of products though.

[Elvin Ehrhardt]

There are still a few sources out there for ivory. I've even seen it pop up on Ebay from time to time. Another source is to keep a sharp lookout for anyone junking an old piano. I've harvested a lot of old elephant ivory from piano keys. It's a bit thin for making sight beads but it works great for doing inlay work. You can tell when you delaminate the piano key covering you look at the covering at an angle and you can see the grain of the ivory almost like the grain in wood. If you see the grain pattern you've got ivory and most of that came from elephant tusks back in the day.

[Bill Murphy]

Toby, .157, not .0157, but you knew that. :):)

[TobyBoudreau]

Breck, Yes, my error and Thank you, but they way my old eyes feel making those beads, I sometimes wonder if it isn't 0.00157. Haha.

[Jerry Harlow]

I am also open to trying to make custom sizes to your specifications. If you are interested or want to chat about them, please shoot me a message with your number and I will call you.

Toby,

What are the chances you could cut threads in the shank for the Parkers so they do not have to be fitted by trial and error and then glued in? Or at the least cut the shanks so they are barely oversized to replace a Parker original brass front sight?

[TobyBoudreau]

Good question. I do mill the shafts to the same diameter as 4-64 thread, which is 0.120. This is the same size as the shafts on beads sold by NECG and Midway. What are the standard parker threads, I made the assumption the ones formerly available worked. Please educate me. I am small gunsmithing operation and I started making beads because I wanted to help out folks breathing life back into old sxs shotguns. If you can give me a fitted shaft diameter or a thread size I can try to make that happen. Let me know what you need. I was told be a couple restorers that they fit each bead and their installation always involves a dab of glue. But that's a small sample size. I'll try it. Toby

[Jerry Harlow]

Toby,

Yes the shaft has to be turned down to fit a Parker. I do it with a Dremel tool, and then a dab of Super glue. I try to get it close so it somewhat screws in, but I have lost them when using the guns due to glue letting go, making the shaft too small, or hitting them. I know it is a common thread size but I will let someone else give you that dimension. That would make them a simple screw in installation. Thanks.

[TobyBoudreau]

Jerry, Thanks. I hope a member chimes in, but in the meantime time I'll do some more checking with other smiths doing restoration. When I find out, I'll post it and let you know also. Cheers

[Elvin Ehrhardt]

Guys

For those of you struggling to find a more secure way to attach the ivory beads, here is my alternative. I take standard size brass replacement bead and hot glue the threaded end to a wooden dowel. Then I use my disc sander and dremel tool to hone the bead down to a small shift about the size of a small brad. Then hone your ivory bead to the size you want and drill a whole in the bottom just slightly bigger than the brass shaft you made. Fill the hole with super glue and attach. One helpful factor is to use Super Glue gel rather than the liquid. The gel won’t run out and it tends to make a more complete attachment that will be more difficult to break.

[Brian Dudley]

Original parker nickel silver beads are a very small number 2 thread.

I would find it hard to believe that the ivory could be turned down and threaded that small.

[Jerry Harlow]

Original parker nickel silver beads are a very small number 2 thread.

I would find it hard to believe that the ivory could be turned down and threaded that small.

If that is the case then we will just have to cut the shaft down to install them as we had been doing.

[Louis Rotelli]

Parkers have either 2-56 or 3-56 threads for front beads. I've made many ivory beads and threading them takes a delicate touch.