All About Pocket Knives

I got a question for you guys. Last Saturday I was at the Blade Show in Atlanta talking to a fellow member of our knife club. He said Gary do you know how to test Ivory? I said outside of the hot needle test(which I would not do to a knife) or looking for the grain under a loupe- no. He said come here I want to show you what one of these dealers showed me. At which time he pulled out an Ivory handled knife, and opened a glass display case, placed the ivory underneath and up against the glass. When the ivory came in contact with the glass little blackish green spots showed up through the glass. My friend told me the dealer said when the lead in the glass interacted with the ivory it caused this to happen. If this is true with ivory only then it sure beats the heck out of the hot needle test. Have any of you ever heard of this test. All my years in collecting knives it is the first time I ever saw it.
Take Care
Blade Runner

I have never heard it either, but you can bet I am going to try it.
9ball

Hey Blade Runner ,

Is this what to look for?

The handle is Convex as is the glass. Where the green dot(s) are, is where it touches.
I never have got it to work under flat glass yet. Does type of lighting make a difference?
I will able to move one of my smaller case's outside over the week-end to try it outside.

Thanks for the info,
9ball

Hey 9 ball good to hear from you. I don't know that much about the test. I only saw it done once, but it worked that time. You'll just have to make sure you have genuine ivory and then experiment with it. Let me know how it goes, because I don't have anything handled in ivory. After looking again I think I can see the green dots in your pictures.
Blade Runner

I dug out an ivory handled knife today and tried it. I saw a similar effect as shown in 9ball's image. I kind of rolled it around on the bottom surface of the glass and the streak/dot looking areas showed up in various locations. They kind of showed up sporadically. Kind of weird... Whatever it was that showed through looked like it was for sure a characteristic that was part of the handle scales. I haven't tried it on any imitation ivory or any other materials yet.

Anyone else try this?

Bryan

I've tried this on several pieces of ivory now. I got the same effect every time. All I have is pre-ban Elephant Ivory and mammoth ivory. I'd like to see if hippo ivory / whale tooth, etc. have similar effects. Can't find any other handle scale materials that duplicates this either...

Good trick to know if it really does work. I'd like to hear more testimonials, and try out other materials before coming to a 100% conclusion that it works.

Bryan

Hey Bryan,

I never could get it to work in any of our display or show cases. It must be the glass, they are non glare. I even tried it on a pair of reading glasses I carry.
I tried elk ivory, shark teeth, a dinosaur tooth, even SandBar Stag and it never worked under the lighting/glass shown here.

I finally dug out a straight razor with a celluloid handle.
Can you see the green spot? It is kinda hard to hold a sharp razor and take a picture at the same time.
It also produced a green spot on a horn Jack knife I have and a couple of different cream colored celluloid razors I stuck under there.

Oh well.......back to the grind stone.

Later
9ball

Bryan wrote:I've tried this on several pieces of ivory now. I got the same effect every time. I'd like to hear more testimonials, and try out other materials before coming to a 100% conclusion that it works. Bryan

Yes... has anyone compared one that they know to be genuine ivory with one they know to be something other than ivory. If a few examples of each category provided distinctly different results then we may be on to something. s-k

Hi 9ball, Hi s-k...

9ball's test of the celluloid does not look like a good sign that it works. I tried it with a celluloid knife that is a bit more yellow in color than ivory. I did not get the same affect as ivory... no affect whatsoever actually.

Maybe I have majic glass... Anyone want to buy some majic glass?

My kitchen table is thick glass. That is what I've been using. I'm getting some real interesting results. I wish I could some how show you. A picture doesn't do it justice. The handles are rounded, and when the they are rocked back and forth, it kind of looks like lightening or something because lines kind of streak accross in a pattern... if that makes sense... ?

I wish I had some better imitation ivory to try out also. Maybe I'll go eBaying for some test material.

Bryan

Hey 9 ball if your glass is non glare there could be some kind of coating hindering the process. Bryan I have also been interested to know whether mastadon or mamoth ivory would have the same effect as preban elephant ivory. Also hippo ivory and walrus tusk. Let me know what ya'll find out.
Gary

Howdy Guys,
I can answer the question of wheather it works on Mastadon Ivory!!!
Y E S !!! I have a Fighting Bulldog 4 Blade Congress purchased from Parkers earlier this year. Yes!!! I came across this thread a week or so ago and I had to try it. I agree with Bryan it is truely amazing what happens when you roll the handles on glass. I did this on a knife display case that a very good friend has loaned me to use for selling at the local flea market. I just put the knife under the glass, rolled it (in place) back and forth and low-and-behold there were little green dots (for lack of a better word) and they seemed to float as to the amount of pressure I applied knife to glass. I turned the knife over to see if it happened on the back side and it sure did. Don't know why but it sure works. Oh BTW, the Mastadon is Inner Bark Ivory that I did this with. I also have an Outer Bark Mastadon Bulldog Congress Prototype, I tried it too and NO Luck. But the Inner Bark really amazed me.
Maybe it's due to the amount of lead in the composition of the glass, I'm no chemist...never said I was... but this little test DOES work.
Later, Keith J.

With my luck, the lead in the glass will cause a reaction in the ivory that will cause it to become unstable and decompose ...and all our ivory will be ruined...

hehe ---> I think ... erhrm...

Bryan

Ok,Ok,Ok,
Here's my latest news from the Ivory test from the Ivory test front!!!! Ya'll Ain't gonna wann here this... But....... I did the very same hold it on the glass test I rolled this knife and low-and-behold...the same results... BUT here's the kicker....this time I used a knife that had WHITE -BONE handles. It was a new retro John Prible in white bonee as I said. The dots or whatever it is that showed up in real pretty green this time were blackish in color but still the same thing happened.. I rolled the knife handles over the glass and the black dots appeared... Sorry to burst any burst any bubbles but if this test works on white bone too then is it truely accurate on Ivory???? JMO !! I have tried the test on MOP with NO results...What a nice way to get some knives out of the display case and wipe them and handle them only to reposition them and gaze at the case and sigh with contentment, later, kj

maybe a good way to determine bone(black) from ivory(green)

Dawg gone it, this will make a preacher cuss!

If anybody happens to have a black light, you might try some different materials under it. I did a google search and found out that ivory showe white under black light. It didn't say the same for bone, so I don't know. Might be worth a shot... CCBill...

Hi, I think I remember reading somewhere that bone has pores and ivory does not. If so, should be relatively easy to identify bone with a good magnifying glass. Doesn't confirm that it is ivory however. s-k

Hi All, Very interesting test. I have a Small Richtig knife that has what I tought was ivory handles but could not be sure. The ends are not exposed so all I have to go by is the color and grain. I tried the test with an old display case that it is in and the little green line appered wherever the handle came in contact with the glass. Tried and old Phoenix knife also and it worked with that also. Very interesting.

I would love to hear more!!!!

Mike

Has anyone tried the black-light test on various handles? I just wonder if it works...
...CCBill...

Hey Bill,

You really have me wondering now my friend, I'M gonna dig through my early 60's Hippie stuff this weekend to see if my Black Light still works & try it!


"Texas collector", Roger - 50/2050

i have a 2007 remington bullet knife,mastadon handles,tried suggested test with the glass thing nothing,definently a lighting thing so it will work,
when i got my knife a year ago,the ivory was the color of milk,dureing
the times that i have cleaned this knife,it seems that the oil has brought out another color pink in the form of a wavey line that runs the entire length of the handles,i would rather look at pretty colors as oposed
to green dots,any noticed other colors in thier mastadon lately.