# Mammoth Tooth, Triton really tough stuff.



## maxman400 (Dec 28, 2012)

A friend of mine was talking to me about two months ago when the last issue of Pen World came out and I was telling him about a Mammoth Tooth pen I saw in there. Well he informed me that he had two Mammoth Tooth knife scales that he had bought and had not used them for a knife that he was restoring, and asked me if I could make him a Pen instead. I told him that I would be willing to try anything once, but not to be in a hurry because  I would have to take my time. So he brought me the scales and the first thing noticed was that they were very brittle and had cracks all over them and the were  very hard. the first thing I did was epoxy them to a piece of black diamond wood for a backing to stabilize them. I used a metal cutting band saw to split one of them in two then used a piece of blue diamond wood as an accent to join them together to make a blank. I then encased the blank with strips of maple and epoxy   to give it support during drilling, I even capped the ends with wood. I drilled the blank 1/64" at a time starting with a 1/4", the cap took 14 steps and body took 12 steps. I had to use carbide tipped tools to turn it, I got a few flakes but mostly it came off like powder. I started sanding at 320, then 400, 500 and 600 then buffed for the final finish. During turning I soaked it three times with thin CA because I found some small voids in the tooth. I gave it to my friend today and he was overwhelmed with the way it turned out. This is the toughest and hardest stuff I have ever tried to turn to date. Oh yea he said I could keep the other scale for me. :biggrin:
Thanks for looking, comments welcome.


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## Chatham PenWorks (Dec 28, 2012)

Oh my, that is gorgeous! Would have never though it was a tooth of any kind. The end result was definitely worth the hassle.


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## thewishman (Dec 28, 2012)

That is an awesome pen! Looks like a $1000 bill to me.


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## firewhatfire (Dec 28, 2012)

I used a set on a pen once and didn't realize how much it was worth until way later.  Yours is a truly unique pen.  love it.


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## K-9 Man (Dec 28, 2012)

Awesome pen!!  I really enjoy seeing pens made out of unique material.  Good job and thanks for explaining how you made it.  Your technique will assist me in using some of the left over big horn sheep horn I have left which looks like it could be a thin knife scale.

Ernie


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## papaturner (Dec 28, 2012)

Awesome pen............Btw it reads Perry`s pen I`ll pm my address:biggrin:


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## maxman400 (Dec 28, 2012)

papaturner said:


> Awesome pen............Btw it reads Perry`s pen I`ll pm my address:biggrin:


I am sure you will have a fight on your hands from the other Perry...LOL :biggrin:


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## maxman400 (Dec 28, 2012)

K-9 Man said:


> Awesome pen!!  I really enjoy seeing pens made out of unique material.  Good job and thanks for explaining how you made it.  Your technique will assist me in using some of the left over big horn sheep horn I have left which looks like it could be a thin knife scale.
> 
> Ernie


If you have any questions just send me a PM and I will be glad to try and help if I can.


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## stonepecker (Dec 28, 2012)

Beautiful.


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## Jim Burr (Dec 28, 2012)

Cha Ching!! Nothing says "One of a kind" like Mammoth tooth. Need to get busy on the other blank!


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## maxman400 (Dec 28, 2012)

Here is a side shot showing the diamond wood stripe.


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## jasontg99 (Dec 28, 2012)

Wow!!!  Had I not read what it was, I would have thought that was some kind of stone.


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## fitty (Dec 28, 2012)

Amazing pen! Will definitely have to give it a try. 

I used mammoth tooth in one of my PITH pens but destroyed the first piece when drilling so decided to use the other piece to make it a closed end. Attached some photos for those that missed it.


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## maxman400 (Dec 28, 2012)

fitty said:


> Amazing pen! Will definitely have to give it a try.
> 
> I used mammoth tooth in one of my PITH pens but destroyed the first piece when drilling so decided to use the other piece to make it a closed end. Attached some photos for those that missed it.


That gives me a couple of ideas for the left overs.


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## Charlie_W (Dec 28, 2012)

Mine, Mine, Mine......I wish!


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## Miles42 (Dec 28, 2012)

Awesome creation. Nothing more to say but well done.


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## plantman (Dec 29, 2012)

Excellent, as always !!! Jim S


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## redneckmedic (Dec 29, 2012)

I wish when folks did a very complicated project they would take more pictures of the steps involved or video and explain what and why they do each step. I really had a tough time following what the OP did with backing woods and striping and all.

Very nice production, a true artist.


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## Yorkie UK (Dec 29, 2012)

One of the best finishd pens i have seen.


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