I am retired now and I love to do art work. Your work has inspired me and I hope to pick up the art of scrimshaw. I tried to do some on antler, but found it very difficult to work with...in reality it is bone. I see by your comments you don't recommend bone. Thanks for all the tips you so willingly share with others. Unselfishness is a beauty we don't always get to see with the beauty of artwork. Very nice. Thanks, Mark Anderson
Thanks again for the kind words. Glad you like the lady on the knife. I've scrimshawed 2 more like it. There's something about it that everybody likes.
Hello! Thanks for the comment and for subscribing to my channel! Thank you for the kind words. I hope you clicked to bell for notifications of new videos. I wish you much success in scrimshaw... David
Hi David, I enjoyed this video immensely, thanks, there just isn't any quality scrimshaw videos available. I must say I am very envious of your walrus Ivory, top quality. And your art work is enviable. There just isn't many quality scrimshanders left any more, literally a dying art. Well done.
Thanks for the comment and kind words Rod. I will be doing a Part 2 when I can find the extra time. And, I will be talking so that there's less text to read. I've been leaving out a lot of text in my latest videos which I hope is better for the viewer.
H Rod, Thanks for the comment. I agree, Bob Engnath was a great man! His books are now selling for over 100 dollars. Yes, I did publish a book, but it's not about scrimshaw. It's an instructional book about painting Fairies which is registered with the Library Of Congress. Blackbeard's Last Stand was scrimmed for a long time collector. The ivory is pre-banned elephant that he's had since the early seventies. It was prepped by Roger Cash, then sent to me for scrimshaw. Making these videos IS quite time consuming, to say the least! The Blackbeard video; I spent over 12 hours on that one. I'm not monetized on TH-cam. I do ask for donations in the description below, but that never happens, so, there's not much incentive to make these, but I continue with it to help and inspire scrimshanders. Take care Rob
Hi Rod, You're correct! There isn't much profit in scrimshaw. Most of the scrimshaw projects I do is work for is retailers and long time collectors; I give them pretty good discounts to keep the work coming in. Most all of my colleagues have quit scrimshaw due to lack of a living wage. Some of them have died. I want to thank you for such a generous donation! Thank You so much! When I saw that, I was taken aback! You made my day! To let you know, I come here online when I'm done working for the day which is 6PM Pacific Standard time here in Washington State. During the day, all day I'm focused on working. I appreciate your comments and again, Thank You for the donation!!!
Hi Rod, Here in the USA jewelers are feeling a decline in sales as well. It's sad. I went to your site and looked at your Gallery of scrimshaw... fantastic work! I love the bases you made, very unique! I really like the Bamboo Tiger scrim with the bamboo looking silver highlights to either side of that scrim, very nice touch! Your silver bases are brilliant! Thanks for sharing. I bookmarked your site. I'm going to put a link to your site in the description of my videos. Regards.... David
Thanks putting this video together. Love you work. I do stuff with deer antler and would like to apply scrimshaw to deer antler. Does scrimshaw work well on deer antler or do you need something denser?
Thanks for the comment! Deer antler is a porous material which will stain when inked. It's best to coat the antler with some kind of product that will create a barrier to stop the ink from staining. What to use for this, I don't know. I have heard from others that floor wax applied, then wiped off works. I never tried it. If antler is your material of choice, I would experiment. I have scrimmed smooth bone knife scales with very little staining issues. Fossil ivories is the best material for scrimshaw, especially high quality work. I wish you the best... David
David hi. Great video, GREAT art work! I see what you have said here regarding deer antlers. I am a knife maker and often make knives useing antlers for handles. When I use a crown the polished end is just begging for some simple design. Here is my question. Is the crown any different from the rest of the antler, or will I have the same problem with staining? I figured I will have the same problem but thought I would ask you. Will Renaissance wax work to help prevent the staining? Maybe clear lacquer? Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I’ve been trying to practice mine on cow bone. How I was going about it is like you are doing. That was not working and I had to be far more forceful than I imagined. Either the cow bone is harder to work with or I was sold inferior tools. Most likely I spent too much on bad tools.
Sorry to hear your frustration. Bone is much harder than ivory - I avoid it in most cases! Bone is a porous material, not really suitable for fine scrimshaw. I have scrimshawed some knives with smooth bone scales. Aside from it's hardness, the problem with bone is that when inked (in most cases) the bone is stained gray, as it will absorb the ink and can't be wiped off. I always ink the bone prior to etching it. If the material is stained too much, I will not work with it. I hope this is helpful to you. I wish you the best!
David Adams ArtWorks I appreciate the reply, I was pretty sure it was a far inferior medium to use. I’m also in cattle country so I can get cow bones for next to nothing or free so it is a practice material for me. But yes it is also like trying to sculpt concrete with a jackhammer. I’ll keep trying anyway.
Thank you for the comment! I apply archival wax regularly on items that are handled frequently, such as knives, pendents, earrings, buckles, etc. Display pieces are re-coated every 3 to 4 years.
I inherited by great grandmother's piano. I've removed the ivory keys and want to make earrings for all the girl descendants. What is the safest way to cut them in half to get a pair from each key?
Hi Mary, Thanks for the comment! To answer your question; I guess the safest way to cut a piano key is to first secure it to a bench with a clamp. Then carefully saw the piece with a small hand saw that has very small teeth... like a hax saw. I wish you the best... David
what number lens in the optivisor do you use? Does the clay affect the polish on the back? Will tape affect polish when taping paper onto ivory? Is Indian ink the right stuff to use? Is using a wax to fill in the scribed and inked sections as you go a good idea or it shouldn't get darker if you haven't scribed too hard? Very hard to find info on this subject, so thanks.
Thanks for the questions. My optivisor has a 10 power lens. The polymer clay I use to secure the piece does not affect the ivory in any way. Masking tape has no adverse effects on the ivory. There's many different mediums to use for scrimshaw. I prefer Higgins inks. India ink tends to stick on the ivory... hard to remove. Yes, you may use wax in between etching stages of the scrimshaw, but it's not necessary. A coat of Renaissance Wax after the scrimshaw is finished is my method. I hope this is helpful. I will make a part 2 Tools And Tips video. Thanks for viewing.
I use a simple hand held graver with a carbide pin. This tool is referenced with many names... scribe, scriber, graver, stylist, etc. Thanks for the comment. th-cam.com/users/adamsalivevideos
Hello David, I have been "scrimming" on faux ivory piano key tops and I have been using the Higgins ink (black). When I apply the ink and then rub it off it is extremely hard to get it all off, it's like it leaves smudging or shadowing behind. I spit on it and even have used alcohol pads but sometimes it doesn't come all the way off, could this be because I haven't prepared my work piece like I should? I am new to this scrimshaw and someone mentioned that I need to sand it very smooth. The pieces feel very smooth without doing anything to them could it be that they are not as smooth as I think they are? Please help, thanks for your time and videos.
Hi Brandy - sorry for the late reply. I missed your post till now. The ivory you scrimshaw has to be highly polished without any scratch marks. Every hairline scratch in the ivory will HOLD the ink. Higgins ink is a good choice; avoid India ink; it sticks to ivory like glue.
Do you have an Instagram acct.? I don't have and don't want to be on FB anymore. But I want to share your work to my friends! Instagram is like an FB, but better!! I got sick of the stuff going on, on FB.... God bless you!
I don't have an Instagram account. I will check it out. I'm a very busy man with my Work (12 plus hours a day), my Site, TH-cam, Fan Mail and Social Media. This takes up most of my day, every day. However, I will look into Instagram and try to fit it in to my busy schedule. Thank you for the invite.
I opened an Instagram account and am following you right now. It's a bit confusing. I'll get back to it later. Instagram is catered to cell phones, so, uploading video's is impossible. I don't use a cell phone. I found a free program that will enable you to post video onto Instagram. Here's a link to a TH-cam instruction video: th-cam.com/video/8OQ2I1xvmNk/w-d-xo.html
Wow what a beautiful body of work, very inspiring.
Unreal this truly blowsy mind .thank you for doing this video 🇺🇸👍
You are a marvelous artist. You are inspirational. Thanks for sharing your amazing talent! KANSAS USA
Thank you for the kind words!
David
I am retired now and I love to do art work. Your work has inspired me and I hope to pick up the art of scrimshaw. I tried to do some on antler, but found it very difficult to work with...in reality it is bone. I see by your comments you don't recommend bone. Thanks for all the tips you so willingly share with others. Unselfishness is a beauty we don't always get to see with the beauty of artwork. Very nice. Thanks, Mark Anderson
INCREDIBLE!!!! Beautiful work and thanks for the lesson. J.
What a magnificent God given talent you have. So perfect and proportioned. I wish I had a10th of the ability to just sketch.
Прямым рукам и терпению мастера можно только позавидовать! Спасибо за видео!
Спасибо за добрые слова. Я оцениваю. Большое спасибо.
Love the lady, so beautiful and perfect in every way! I love everything you do!! Ow, that knife with the lady on it is unreal! So fantastic!!!
Thanks again for the kind words. Glad you like the lady on the knife. I've scrimshawed 2 more like it. There's something about it that everybody likes.
Who doesn't like a beautiful woman!?
😃👍👍👌🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 that is so real looking, it’s beautiful!
Hi Ricky! Thank you for the comment... David
Отличное видео.
Великолепные работы.
Огромное спасибо вам.
Applause.
Большое спасибо за добрые слова.
Absolutely awesome 👏👏😃👍👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Hi your work is great!
Thank you Tom!
David
Just getting into skrimshaw and your work is beautiful!
Hello!
Thanks for the comment and for subscribing to my channel! Thank you for the kind words. I hope you clicked to bell for notifications of new videos.
I wish you much success in scrimshaw... David
Amazing work.
Thank you Rich!
David
Hi David, I enjoyed this video immensely, thanks, there just isn't any quality scrimshaw videos available.
I must say I am very envious of your walrus Ivory, top quality.
And your art work is enviable.
There just isn't many quality scrimshanders left any more, literally a dying art.
Well done.
Thanks for the comment and kind words Rod.
I will be doing a Part 2 when I can find the extra time. And, I will be talking so that there's less text to read. I've been leaving out a lot of text in my latest videos which I hope is better for the viewer.
H Rod,
Thanks for the comment.
I agree, Bob Engnath was a great man! His books are now selling for over 100 dollars. Yes, I did publish a book, but it's not about scrimshaw. It's an instructional book about painting Fairies which is registered with the Library Of Congress.
Blackbeard's Last Stand was scrimmed for a long time collector. The ivory is pre-banned elephant that he's had since the early seventies. It was prepped by Roger Cash, then sent to me for scrimshaw.
Making these videos IS quite time consuming, to say the least! The Blackbeard video; I spent over 12 hours on that one. I'm not monetized on TH-cam. I do ask for donations in the description below, but that never happens, so, there's not much incentive to make these, but I continue with it to help and inspire scrimshanders.
Take care Rob
Hi Rod,
You're correct! There isn't much profit in scrimshaw. Most of the scrimshaw projects I do is work for is retailers and long time collectors; I give them pretty good discounts to keep the work coming in. Most all of my colleagues have quit scrimshaw due to lack of a living wage. Some of them have died.
I want to thank you for such a generous donation! Thank You so much! When I saw that, I was taken aback! You made my day!
To let you know, I come here online when I'm done working for the day which is 6PM Pacific Standard time here in Washington State. During the day, all day I'm focused on working.
I appreciate your comments and again, Thank You for the donation!!!
Hi Rod,
Here in the USA jewelers are feeling a decline in sales as well. It's sad.
I went to your site and looked at your Gallery of scrimshaw... fantastic work! I love the bases you made, very unique! I really like the Bamboo Tiger scrim with the bamboo looking silver highlights to either side of that scrim, very nice touch! Your silver bases are brilliant! Thanks for sharing. I bookmarked your site. I'm going to put a link to your site in the description of my videos.
Regards.... David
Очень красивые работы, спасибо за хорошее видео
Большое спасибо.
Thanks putting this video together. Love you work. I do stuff with deer antler and would like to apply scrimshaw to deer antler. Does scrimshaw work well on deer antler or do you need something denser?
Thanks for the comment! Deer antler is a porous material which will stain when inked. It's best to coat the antler with some kind of product that will create a barrier to stop the ink from staining. What to use for this, I don't know. I have heard from others that floor wax applied, then wiped off works. I never tried it. If antler is your material of choice, I would experiment. I have scrimmed smooth bone knife scales with very little staining issues.
Fossil ivories is the best material for scrimshaw, especially high quality work.
I wish you the best... David
@@adamsalive Thanks for the tip!
David hi. Great video, GREAT art work! I see what you have said here regarding deer antlers. I am a knife maker and often make knives useing antlers for handles. When I use a crown the polished end is just begging for some simple design. Here is my question. Is the crown any different from the rest of the antler, or will I have the same problem with staining? I figured I will have the same problem but thought I would ask you. Will Renaissance wax work to help prevent the staining? Maybe clear lacquer? Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Amazing made my day! Thank you
You're welcome Greg. There will be a Part 2.
Excellent
I’ve been trying to practice mine on cow bone. How I was going about it is like you are doing. That was not working and I had to be far more forceful than I imagined. Either the cow bone is harder to work with or I was sold inferior tools. Most likely I spent too much on bad tools.
Sorry to hear your frustration. Bone is much harder than ivory - I avoid it in most cases! Bone is a porous material, not really suitable for fine scrimshaw. I have scrimshawed some knives with smooth bone scales. Aside from it's hardness, the problem with bone is that when inked (in most cases) the bone is stained gray, as it will absorb the ink and can't be wiped off. I always ink the bone prior to etching it. If the material is stained too much, I will not work with it. I hope this is helpful to you. I wish you the best!
David Adams ArtWorks I appreciate the reply, I was pretty sure it was a far inferior medium to use. I’m also in cattle country so I can get cow bones for next to nothing or free so it is a practice material for me. But yes it is also like trying to sculpt concrete with a jackhammer. I’ll keep trying anyway.
What do you treat the drawing and bone to give it the high gloss?
Gorgeous!!!
Thank you for the kind words. Please view my latest videos at th-cam.com/users/adamsalivevideos
wonderful artwork ! do you have to wax them regularly to keep the ivory 'alive' ?
Thank you for the comment! I apply archival wax regularly on items that are handled frequently, such as knives, pendents, earrings, buckles, etc. Display pieces are re-coated every 3 to 4 years.
Di tempat asal banyak tanduk. Apakah bisa melakukan di tanduk?
I inherited by great grandmother's piano. I've removed the ivory keys and want to make earrings for all the girl descendants. What is the safest way to cut them in half to get a pair from each key?
Hi Mary,
Thanks for the comment!
To answer your question; I guess the safest way to cut a piano key is to first secure it to a bench with a clamp. Then carefully saw the piece with a small hand saw that has very small teeth... like a hax saw.
I wish you the best... David
what number lens in the optivisor do you use? Does the clay affect the polish on the back? Will tape affect polish when taping paper onto ivory? Is Indian ink the right stuff to use? Is using a wax to fill in the scribed and inked sections as you go a good idea or it shouldn't get darker if you haven't scribed too hard? Very hard to find info on this subject, so thanks.
Thanks for the questions. My optivisor has a 10 power lens. The polymer clay I use to secure the piece does not affect the ivory in any way. Masking tape has no adverse effects on the ivory. There's many different mediums to use for scrimshaw. I prefer Higgins inks. India ink tends to stick on the ivory... hard to remove. Yes, you may use wax in between etching stages of the scrimshaw, but it's not necessary. A coat of Renaissance Wax after the scrimshaw is finished is my method.
I hope this is helpful. I will make a part 2 Tools And Tips video.
Thanks for viewing.
thanks for the info mate, very helpful
What scribe/other carving tools do you use?
I use a simple hand held graver with a carbide pin. This tool is referenced with many names... scribe, scriber, graver, stylist, etc. Thanks for the comment. th-cam.com/users/adamsalivevideos
Hello David, I have been "scrimming" on faux ivory piano key tops and I have been using the Higgins ink (black). When I apply the ink and then rub it off it is extremely hard to get it all off, it's like it leaves smudging or shadowing behind. I spit on it and even have used alcohol pads but sometimes it doesn't come all the way off, could this be because I haven't prepared my work piece like I should? I am new to this scrimshaw and someone mentioned that I need to sand it very smooth. The pieces feel very smooth without doing anything to them could it be that they are not as smooth as I think they are? Please help, thanks for your time and videos.
Hi Brandy - sorry for the late reply. I missed your post till now. The ivory you scrimshaw has to be highly polished without any scratch marks. Every hairline scratch in the ivory will HOLD the ink. Higgins ink is a good choice; avoid India ink; it sticks to ivory like glue.
could it be because faux ivory piano key tops are plastic and not real ivory? im curious too
Do you have an Instagram acct.? I don't have and don't want to be on FB anymore. But I want to share your work to my friends! Instagram is like an FB, but better!! I got sick of the stuff going on, on FB.... God bless you!
I don't have an Instagram account. I will check it out. I'm a very busy man with my Work (12 plus hours a day), my Site, TH-cam, Fan Mail and Social Media. This takes up most of my day, every day. However, I will look into Instagram and try to fit it in to my busy schedule. Thank you for the invite.
I opened an Instagram account and am following you right now. It's a bit confusing. I'll get back to it later. Instagram is catered to cell phones, so, uploading video's is impossible. I don't use a cell phone. I found a free program that will enable you to post video onto Instagram. Here's a link to a TH-cam instruction video: th-cam.com/video/8OQ2I1xvmNk/w-d-xo.html
David Adams ArtWorks thank you for all the information, David. I will do my best to try to figure out how to upload your videos! 😉
You're welcome! I will make time soon to upload videos to Instagram. Thanks for inviting me to the Instagram platform. God bless you!
David Adams ArtWorks Awe you are so welcome! Can't wait to see the videos! 😉