How do you tell if a cue has real Ivory in it?

Gatz

Gatz

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a friend with a Schon cue that claims it has Ivory in it. I don't believe him because I didn't think there were many Schons with Ivory in them. It's not a fancy cue, it's just a limited (LTD).

Does Ivory have a unique look to it compared to fake? Is there cracks in ivory?
 
Hmmmmmm really? I didn't know that about Schons. Thanks for the info.
 
there is a grain in real ivory that I have not seen reproduced in plastic so take a close look with good light and you should know which it is.

Best,
Brian kc
 
Double-Dave said:
There are many, many Schon cues with ivory in them.
If it's an LTD and it has white inlays they are more then likely ivory.
Ivory in inlays can be identified by the Schreger lines crossing at around 115 degrees.

The item on the left in this picture is Elefant ivory:

http://images.google.nl/imgres?imgu...NL350NL350&tbs=isch:1&ei=KS3OS8y7BofEOJP3ja8P

gr. Dave
Click to expand...

gr. Dave:

That was a really, REALLY cool post! Rep to you. I did not know about Schreger Lines (crosshatch patterns unique to ivory, visible in 90-degree cut faces) before your post. However, since Schreger Lines are only visible in the 90-degree cut face, how does one identify ivory already installed in a cue, if the 90-degree cut face of the piece is not visible / obscured?

-Sean
 
Gatz said:
I have a friend with a Schon cue that claims it has Ivory in it. I don't believe him because I didn't think there were many Schons with Ivory in them. It's not a fancy cue, it's just a limited (LTD).

Does Ivory have a unique look to it compared to fake? Is there cracks in ivory?
Click to expand...

You can bet your house if it is a real Schon and it has White inlays in the cues butt, they are real Ivory and it doesn't matter what model you are talking about. All Schon Cues with White inlays in the cues butt have Ivory inlays, and some also have Ivory ferrules. Schon is the only production cues maker that has been using this material since they started in the 1980's, this is why they cost so much, and why they make the highest quality American made production cues with respect to materials used.
 
At one time I had heard if it is white and it is inlaid on a Schon it is ivory. I don't no where I read it and it was 10 years ago or so. I have a Schon with many white inlays on it and you can only see a bit of ivory grain on one piece. You have to hold it up to the light (sun light works best) and rotate the cue slightly and it shows up. I bought this cue from Mueller's and the catalog claimed it was inlayed with ivory.
 

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Cuebuddy said:
At one time I had heard if it is white and it is inlaid on a Schon it is ivory. I don't no where I read it and it was 10 years ago or so. I have a Schon with many white inlays on it and you can only see a bit of ivory grain on one piece. You have to hold it up to the light (sun light works best) and rotate the cue slightly and it shows up. I bought this cue from Mueller's and the catalog claimed it was inlayed with ivory.
Click to expand...

What model number is this Schon? It's beautiful.
 
Isn't there a fluorescence or some kind of test that you can do with UV light on ivory? I need an expert to chime in on this one :p
 
J Soto said:
What model number is this Schon? It's beautiful.
Click to expand...

Thanks J Soto, according to the 1999 Mueller's catalog that I bought it through it is a SC9. I kept the catalog just for grins, the cool thing is it had 6 more points then the one pictured in the catalog:grin:.
 
Schon's website says that all the white stuff used in the Schon line of cues is elephant ivory except the butt cap which is delrin.
 
BWTadpole said:
Isn't there a fluorescence or some kind of test that you can do with UV light on ivory? I need an expert to chime in on this one :p
Click to expand...

No there isn't any test that can be conducted once finish is put on the cue except to remove the finish and test it. The highest grades of Ivory also doesn't have any noticeable grain in it either. Some of the ferrules I recently made from a section of Tusk don't show any grain at all. It all depends upon far to many factors than I have time to list, but here are a few, whether it is soft or hard Ivory, the climate that the Elephant
was located in, and what part of the Tusk the Ivory was cut from.

Now I am not in anyway an expert, however, I suspect that I have as much or more experience with Ivory as most on the forum.;)

Craig is not expert, but I do have some knowledge!!
 
Cuebuddy said:
At one time I had heard if it is white and it is inlaid on a Schon it is ivory. I don't no where I read it and it was 10 years ago or so. I have a Schon with many white inlays on it and you can only see a bit of ivory grain on one piece. You have to hold it up to the light (sun light works best) and rotate the cue slightly and it shows up. I bought this cue from Mueller's and the catalog claimed it was inlayed with ivory.
Click to expand...

That's a real sporty cue
 
Google......

Ivory comes from animal teeth and tusk and has been used traditionally by many different cultures. It can be very difficult to tell real ivory from synthetic or fake ivory. The problem is that real ivory varies so much in color and grain. There are ways of telling fake ivory from real ivory just by performing a few tests. Of course to be 100% sure a chemical test has to be done. Ivory was used for centuries in Chinese dragon artwork and Eskimo Carving.

Most fake ivory is made up of either plastic or a resin of old ivory that is ground down and mixed with another synthetic. Bone carvings are also easily confused with ivory carvings. Bone carvings are generally have far less value than those of ivory. Plastic and resins are usually smoother than real ivory. Looking at bone under magnification you will see a lot of pitting something that real ivory will not have.

The hot pin test can help you determine the difference between plastic, synthetic, bone and ivory. Its best to perform this test on the bottom of the object that is not visible as it may cause damage to plastic objects. Heat a needle until it is extremely hot than touch the needle against the object you are testing. A hot needle can not penetrate real ivory like it will a plastic or resin. When you touch bone with a hot needle smell the area that you touched. It should have a very unique smell like burning hair. When you touch ivory with a hot needle you will smell something more like a burning teeth dentist office type smell. Passing this test is a pretty good indication that you have real ivory.
 
manwon said:
No there isn't any test that can be conducted once finish is put on the cue except to remove the finish and test it. The highest grades of Ivory also doesn't have any noticeable grain in it either. Some of the ferrules I recently made from a section of Tusk don't show any grain at all. It all depends upon far to many factors than I have time to list, but here are a few, whether it is soft or hard Ivory, the climate that the Elephant
was located in, and what part of the Tusk the Ivory was cut from.

Now I am not in anyway an expert, however, I suspect that I have as much or more experience with Ivory as most on the forum.;)

Craig is not expert, but I do have some knowledge!!
Click to expand...

Craig, your "some knowledge" has helped thousands of readers on these forums for a long time. You may not think of yourself as a expert.....but most of us do.:smile:
 
i'm not about to tear into my Schon to determine if it's real or not. Schon states that it is ivory, turquois, ebony, and abalone. Their whole livelyhood is on the line here....who in their right mind would flush such a profitable company down the tubes with false advertising.
 

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