Finish that will keep pink ivory pink

I’ve never seen pink ivory but years ago I did scrim on knife scales for a custom knife maker and all he ever used on it was peanut oil. Other than that I don’t know. I do know that ivory darkens over the years.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Thos., thanks for the reply but pink ivory is not actually ivory.
It is a quite expensive ( $60 – $100 / bf ) pink colored wood from Africa.

It looks awsome. Check out some photos http://www.righteouswoods.net/pinkivorypics.html

As you can see from the photos it comes in shades of pink and red. The piece I have is more like the next to last photo.

Just wish I could keep that pink color.

-- Leon -- Houston, TX - " I create all my own designs and it looks like it "

The following links to a forum post has some good information on the subject.

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/archive/index.php/t-50776.html

These posts suggest that pink ivory is temperature sensative.

I’m thinking that my sanding before the finish might have over heated it and cause the bulk of the color change. I’ll lighten up on the sanding next time and see if that helps.

-- Leon -- Houston, TX - " I create all my own designs and it looks like it "

Sorry, never heard of it. Learn something new every day. LOL

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

I heard of just about everything. LOL

Unfortunately, I’ve forgotten most of it.

-- Leon -- Houston, TX - " I create all my own designs and it looks like it "

I don’t know about pink ivory but lots of wood change color from UV exposure. You could do a quick test by setting a small piece of scrap in the sun for a couple of days with something opaque covering half of the wood. If the covered side stays the original color and the exposed side changes then its a pretty good bet that it’s the UV light thats causing the color change. Use a coating with lots of UV protection. The only thing I know off the top of my head with excelet UV protection is marine (spar) varnish.

-- Che.

I’ve made Pink Ivory pens and have not had any problems with them changing color. The boards that I have are dark but I don’t know if that is contimanation from their environment, Before and after I got them.

I believe that it is quite stable. I used shellac on mine for finish.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Pink Ivory grows along the Zambize river. It can only be chopped down for a tribal chief or his son. Only the tribal forester can cut it It is supposed to be made into the son’s throne when he becomes of age.

However, money and politics have their way of corrupting society.

Carlton McLendon http://www.rarewoodsandveneers.com/pages/home.htm told me the story of how he acquired his trunk of pink ivory. It cost him a large jewel encrusted knife for the chief, a slightly smaller jewel encrusted knife for the son who was giving up his throne. and a somewhat smaller knife for the customs agent who signed off on the mahogany.

He sold it by the pound, not the board foot. A select few were allowed to buy a slab at about $2,000 per slab. He told me this story about 20 years ago.

I don’t have any clue on how to finish it. I just love his story.

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.