Post #208129 by kaha kii on Tue, Jan 17, 2006 10:34 AM

Aloha again bruddah's & sistah's!

So, scarysnarles, I get my Ivory from a close friend who's in the trade. He supplies knife makers, instrument makers and all kine carvers with genuine ancient mammoth & mastadon Ivory as well as all kine other rare materials...
Like many carver's, I think its bad mana to use any "green" material (an animal recently killed) such as Asian or african elephant Ivory. So, I only use ancient materials like the mammoth ivory. Ancient Mammoth & mastadon Ivory comes from Alaska and Russia (usually a bi-product of the gold mining business). The tusks & bones of the ancient creatures are buried in the permafrost soil and are exposed by collector excavations or while gold mine companies dig up the earth. Some of these mammoths and mastadons have been in the ground for up to 30,000 years but the Ivory I normally use is dated around 10,000 to 15,000 years old. And, although its considered "Fossil" material, it isnt mineralized and you dont have to own lapidary tools to work with it. Also, The ancient material is different from the modern elephant and a lot of ancient ivories have beautiful colorations from the tusks absorbing the minerals in the soil over thousands of years...And the best part! Its completely legal to sell & trade unlike other Ivories & marine mammal materials which are highly regulated by Fish & game....

Aloha Foamy Brah! Well cuz,Ive been carving & sculpting for many years (sculpture is what I studied in college) but Ive only been a "bone carver" or "Subtractive sculptor" for around 10 years...Its funny what you said brah, cause sometimes the polishing takes longer than da kine carving! Most of the materials I use are affected by heat & moisture so you cant polish too quickly or hastily...Sometimes it takes quite a while to polish da kine right, but the almost "ceramic" feel & glass-like finish make it worth the extra time!

And bruddah Johhny P! Mahalo for your kind words and aloha! The wife and I have an art gallery here on the mainland too (where we spend a lot of time) so if youre ever in SoCal you can come by the shop and check it out! The actual work shop and "Cabanilla Makau Headquarters" is in Lana'i City but we wont be back there until the end of February (Im missing the big winter waves!) so if youre ever close by (socal or Hawaii) feel free to contact me and stop by anytime!

Mahalo again everyone, Malama Pono!