The shipping of Ivory, once it clears customs, is very easy. If either you or your Taxidermist has the Ivory you can ship it directly to me. We suggest a wooden crate. Fed Ex has a higher insurable value than all other shippers. Clients will be informed immediately as to its arrival and condition. We request that we know the tracking numbers and contact info prior to shipping. Ivory of this importance must be controlled.
Prior to receiving your Ivory, a wax copy of the Bronze holder of your choosing is cast and is adjusted to fit your Ivory once we build the “Bondo Nerve Plug”. This plug fills the entire nerve cavity of the Tusk and sets the attitude of the whole piece. To do this I place the Ivory in a jig that will hold it 180 degrees from the actual finished product. I then tape off the now cleaned nerve cavity to the dimensions from the Bronze. I then place two “all thread “rods bent to fit the shape of the tusk and fill the cavity with Bondo. This process not only holds the all thread rods in place but also binds the Ivory to the Bondo prohibiting cracking of the Ivory. The Ivory is then cleaned on the outside to the client’s specifications. Some Clients choose to have them polished and others just want the dirt removed. Personally I like them cleaned up to show the herringbone striations and true character of the tusk.
The wax is now adjusted to fit the shape of the tusk, everyone is unique, and so this has to be done on site. This fitted wax is then cast via the “Lost wax” process in to bronze, dry fitted to the Ivory and then patination of your choice is applied. The next step is to mount the prepared Ivory to the Bronze and the wood base. After this I fill any gaps between the Ivory and the bronze, typically less than 1/8th of an inch, touchup the patina and it is ready to ship.
