**Elk Ivory Ring Process Thread **

25contender

25contender

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Mar 20, 2013
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Hey everyone I thought I would post a thread on the of making of the winners Elk Ivory Ring. Libidilatimmy and I have been in contact about his winning of the ring. I gave him instructions on getting one of the Elk Ivory and other pertinent information to me. I received the Bugle Tooth and other information a few weeks ago and have been checking a few measurement to make sure it has stopped shrinking.

I had to make sure the tooth had stopped shrinking before starting the process. After today's measurements everything seems fine so I started to process the Ivory. In the photo below the first thing I have done was to polish the ivory. The Ivory polishes up nicely but caution is needed as to not remove to much of the color and surface layers. When removing any of the bugle teeth try not to damage the top part. It is always better to make a cut in the front and back of the tooth before removing. After doing this you should be able to pop them out with a heavy blade knife without damage to the exposed surface. You can do many things with these great looking Bugle Teeth.

1.The tooth is polished before it is cut to size. This photo shows the polishing of the ivory.



You can really see how the Ivory polish up. As stated above care must be taken not to over polish.



2. Next is the trimming of the Ivory Tooth. The top exposed part that was polished is the only part used for the ring. You can slice the left over bottom part of the tooth into thin wafers then polish them to make other items.



3. The polished top of the Bugle Tooth is now separated and the edges smoothed out. It is now ready to have the ring built around it. Every tooth is unique which makes every piece different so all the pieces are carved by hand. No two will be alike.



To be continued.................
 
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libidilatimmy

libidilatimmy

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Oct 22, 2013
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Very cool. I was just thinking tonight about suggesting you make a thread for the construction of the ring. Very interesting.
 
25contender

25contender

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Ok here we go!! Today is the fun stuff. Today I have been working on the wax/plastic model for the ring. I like to carve the Elk on the ring as close as possible to the Elk that was shot. I contacted Tim and had him e-mail me a few photos of his Elk. He had a great photo and all I did was flip the photo so it was in the right direction to do the carving for the ring.

1. First step after the Bugle tooth was ready to go is to shoot the wax/plastic blank the correct finger size and the correct width for the Ivory. I like to make the ring the correct size from the beginning. The ivory basically being a tooth enamel- bone will not take heat so sizing after the ring is complete can cause issues and excess work. I had Tim send me the correct finger size when he mailed me the Bugle tooth.


2. Once the wax is prepped I attach the Ivory to the top and trace it. This gives me a exact transfer of the Ivorys shape for carving. I then can carve out to lower the Ivory a little for protection of the edges.


3. Now you can see the basic shape carved out of the wax with the Elk Ivory in place. I angled the top of the ring slightly due to the worn nature of this Bugle tooth. This will give it a little more height when finished.


4. This this the fun part, carving the Elk Ivory as close as possible to the photo. When Done the antlers will hold the Ivory in place. Here you can see the photo and the carved Elk on the Ivory. The hair and antler detail will be hand done in the gold after the wax is cast.


Casting will take place in the next few days.......
 
Hilltop

Hilltop

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Feb 25, 2014
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Very neat to see this process! Thank you for posting it! I have several Ivories that I am trying to decide what to do. Another member on here is helping me with one project but I may look you up in the future. What does a ring like this cost?
 
25contender

25contender

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Today finished the wax/plastic model for the ring. All these rings are one off due to each Ivories own special characteristics.

1. I attached the wax model to the sprue and sprue base for casting. This is lost wax casting so the yellow sprue is the conduit for the molten metal to travel to the ring itself.



2. After attaching the model to the sprue and sprue base A Stainless steel flask is put around the model. This flask will allow the me to pour a high temperature investment around and over the model. Once the investment is poured around the model it is put into a investment vacuum to remove any air that might be in the investment. It is then set aside for a few hours to cure.


3. Once the investment is cured the sprue base and the tape is removed. The flask with the model and sprue are place in a oven. The oven is on a timed cycle and will first melt out the spure first (lower temp wax) leaving a conduit to allow the higher temp model wax to melt out. Once the wax is melted out the oven will continue on a upward temperature cycle over 7 hours till it reaches 1250 degrees. I will hold it at that temp for a few hours then cycle the temp back down to the optimum metal casting temperature. This burnout and casting process will take place tonight and tomorrow.

Flasks in the burnout oven.



Update 3/14/14 Came into work and brought the oven up to temperature 1250*. Ring will be cast later this afternoon

 
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25contender

25contender

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I didn't have time to post up any photos yesterday so here we go! Yesterday was all about casting. Like I mentioned above there is a process for eliminating the wax model from the flask using the burnout oven. After the wax model is eliminated the oven temp is raised up to 1250*. This insures that any carbon that is left behind is burnt away. It also insures that the flask with the high temp plaster is a constant temp and moisture free. I then bring the temp down to the optimal casting temp for the metal being used. Then it is time to cast.

1. The amount of metal used is determined by the weight of the wax model, metal being used and the specific gravity of the wax and metal. After the amount of metal has been figured out I weigh out the raw gold and alloy for the specific metal. (PS. You can see the notches in my scale tray where I weigh my arrows!! By the way one gram = 15.432312grains for the conversion!! ;-) )


2.Once the metal is weighed out it is placed in a preheated crucible located on the centrifuge. The metal is now melted down and the flask containing the evacuated model is placed in the centrifuge.


3. Once the gold and alloy are melted, mixed and brought up to the correct temp the centrifuge is released and the metal is injected into the cavity where the model was melted out during the burnout process.

4. Once the centrifuge has stopped the flask is removed and allowed to cool for approximately 30 minutes. The flask is now quenched in water to remove the high temp investment and cast model.
 
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25contender

25contender

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The below photo shows the cast ring which is now ready for cleanup, polishing, stone setting and final detailing. This is what a piece of jewelry looks like like after casting. Still a long way to go till the piece is finished. as you can tell it is a lengthy process hope its not boring anyone!!

 
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