Hehehe the time passage?....replace "archeologist" with "mutated sentient giant cockroach archeologist" saying "What do we have here?"

Ivory is nice...it is beautiful...but it is a brittle material...it isn't as strong and durable...I've worked old ivory...it's all the same..with age it just gets more delicate.
I have beautiful "plates" lengths and "beams" of deer and esp. elk that are china white...slick and beautiful...as lovely as ivory...waiting to be worked....Ivory is nice but there is better for the purposes.
I believe existing ivory should be worked properly...not burned,mulched or destroyed. The poachers should be shot and the elephants left in peace at worst and helped at best. But that is a perfect world and we don't got that yet.
So working old ivory isn't an issue for me. Recent ivory is.
Be that as it may...any endangered species I think should be left in peace...until it dies naturally...then hand me the goods and I'll make something worthy and respectful of the life of that animal.
Extinct species?...Mammoth ! WOO HOO! bring it on baby!
A grand material to work in.

Hmmm...wait for it...
shortly you will wish to see stuff I'll be posting here...

Hehe
You want f***ing fabulous?
How is this...I am going to give a demo of how f***ing fabulous antler really is ...very very soon...

But 1st I am going to post 2 photos shortly which and an exceptionally short (for me even ) write up. Everyone should find that VERY interesting.

Secondly after the understanding you've grok'd from the demo ...
oh my yes you will want an antler mid-section....

After the demo you WILL want an antler full-body...

After the demo you WILL want an antler case....

And...(in my whisper voice here....) you can have ALL 3...hehehe

I won't make an IDENTICAL full body....Why?...It's been done...I'd rather do something different...

"But how then Paul?..." you are supposed to say...(adding before I can respond)..."....you said you wouldn't make a n900 body out of antler....you said you wouldn't mass produce antler bodies at ALL Paul...what kinda **** you pullin' man?..."

To which I say (in an even lower whisper in an even quieter room .. )

"....did you notice (in my atrociously long but relevant explanatory post) my mention of making the "part" out of resin....and specifically out of resin and "other" materials?...."

I will not make a n900 body out of antler...yes...instead I really really really do hope this project ends up as "a go" since it opens up the ability to make not just enhancement attachments for ALL our devices...potentially from the n770 up to the Jolla....BUT AS WELL POTENTIAL FULL BODY REPLACEMENT...(here's my stage whisper again)...out of resin and "other" materials preferably...

You are supposed to say here (dramatically)..."but Paul...what do you mean by making full bodies out of "other" materials and resin?..."

And here is the answer...the joy of modern (for the last 30 yrs) resins in the use of casting has done nothing but become AB FAB in my opinion...15 years ago was the last time I worked with resins in production of copies...

If you want antler cases and bodies and parts you can have them.
If there is enough consensus for their production IN resins...and "other"...yes of course...and pretty cheap too...cheaper than just making said cast out of 100% resin.

Available in almost every northern hemispheric country...it will be imperative wherever production will be occurring...since keeping material acquisition as localized as possible to minimize red tape...it is imperative to find a reindeer (at worst) or (better) deer/ elk farm...buy a whack of antler (much cheaper may be hunting down every antler you can in europe at garage/ estate/ flea market sales ...talking to old hunters...or their widows...they always have a whack of them collecting dust in the attic....make sure they are always properly dried...I do not suggest antler from a fresh hunting expedition...it needs time to dry and to cure.) old antler is best...and there is always lots of it.

Since deer and elk farms raise the animals take the shed antlers grind them up too..mainly for asian demand (supposedly keeps you young and vibrant...aphrodisiac properties...hmmm...THAT accounts for my youthful appearance, excess energy, and mad libido !!! I've been inhaling the stuff for YEARS )...it won't be hard to track ready to use supply down...but the cost may be more....hence my unorthodox suggestion concerning tracking old racks down...yes it may sound odd .....but any single hunter ...young or old or a widow of a hunter could have a dozen or two racks in the garage or attic that they don't mind giving up/ getting rid of / or selling afford-ably ....deadly earnest here...it will be a fraction of what the farms would sell it to us. Trying to gauge how many cases or bodies a rack could make is fruitless...some racks may be small...some large....but a rough middle ground ball-park conservative guess 'tween small and large....would be 10-15 bodies or cases from 1 average mid sized rack of deer.....so....in the 100's or even thousands of cases / bodies...it can be VERY economical.

Get all your antler ground to a fine powder...
As an example of it's ability to "bind" with itself as equally as other things...get abit of the dust wet with water....hell....spit even
when that little bit of powder now dampened ...dries...it will dry seamlessly...as hard if not harder than before. But there is no agent to "hold" it together...
Lo and behold ...the resin.
JUST enough resin..(.it depends on the purity of density of the antler...ie...when you grind up ALL of an antler...you are as well grinding up the porous honey-comb middle or center of the antler...so it all mixes with the more denser outer part of the antler(best part for carving in fact...a few cast attempts with testing antler dust vs resin ratio for EXACTLY the totally and thoroughly mixed antler dust in possesion...by this I mean....don't add new dust to the pile...use up everything in current stock 1st....adding new antler dust to old WILL throw off you resin to antler dust ratio....because invariably the new dust will be more or less dense than your existing supply thereby throwing a monkey wrench into your measurement equation.)...

A few trial and error will get you mix perfect...BUT only to your existing antler dust...for every new batch of dust ...no matter the quantity you will need to test your ratio's again.

You don't want the mix to be too much antler and not enough binding/holding resin....it will be brittle.
You don't want too much resin instead either...or it is then simply more akin to plastic and you gain less of the antler's benefits.
Some where in between ie a ratio of greater than 70% antler (but no higher than 90%) to no greater than 30% resin ( and no lower than 10%) should get the (personal preference really) desired (feel, density, texture etc...for that specific project) perfect ratio for whatever you wish to make ....STRONGER, MORE DURABLE, MORE DAMAGE RESISTANT THAN MY ORIGINAL CARVED OUT OF ANTLER. VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL IN LOOK, FEEL, WEIGHT, DENSITY, TEXTURE... EVERYTHING...IN EVERY WAY THE SAME....JUST BETTER...


Get it?

And yes.... I won't carve a new body...pointless really
And I'll tell you why....
Because whoever is going to do the mold and cast work...could just as easily take an old beater n900 body apart.. make a mold....AND MAKE RESIN / ANTLER bodies far easier and quicker than I could carve it....and I REALLY REALLY REALLY WANT SOMEONE TO DO JUST THAT !!!!
It would be stronger and better than what I could carve.
I want an antler body too.man!....

Get that too?

About the antler case I am artistically fine detail carving...now..
Oh yea man!
Wait until you see it when I unveil THAT puppy!
You will most certainly want it!
(stage whisper again )

"...And if things go well...why ...you could have that too...Made out of antler/ resin ...better than my original ..with ALL the bas-relief carving I have done...."

Get it yet again?

Just wait for the photos...
And the upcoming demo...

BAM!
Feel that man?
That was you gettin hit with a "...you can have your cake, pie, ice cream, donuts AND cookies ....AND eat it too..." Way-Cool Bomb I just hit you with...