Fake 'ivory'

[uther]

Does anyone else not like pretend ivory on bagpipes? Not that I particularly want real ivory either, but when I see a full set with mounts, endcaps, ferrules all I think is 'plastic' and 'fake'
I know it's seen as a traditional bagpipe look but I think my next set will be full alloy/blackwood.
Ah well, you know what they say about opinions.

[Mac an t-Sealgair]

Somebody once called it 'mother of toilet seat' and I don't think there is a better description!

That said, I have since seen some 'aged' imitation ivory and thought it looked rather nice. I love real ivory, I just don't think there is anything like it. I understand that's maybe not PC, or a fashionable opinion, but it's the truth.

I really do like the trend at the minute to use different woods for the mounts, even black wood. Very traditional too.
There are loads of other options too, green, purple etc. Not so into those, but variety is the spice and if it floats your boat then go for it!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all.

[Bob Harper]

Originally Posted by uther

Ah well, you know what they say about opinions.

If you're laying out the money for the pipes, there is really only one opinion that counts.
If I had it to do over, I'd go for antler as on Colin Kyo's pipes.

I don't mind the imitation mounts as a rule - but I wish mine were more of an ivory color rather than pumpkin.

[el gaitero]

Agreed there’s nothing like the real thing...especially when so nicely polished you can see below its polished surface.

But meanwhile there is faux ivory / ivorine similar to as used by R.T. Shepherd that even with close scrutiny looks uniquely ‘similar’.

It’s readily available from suppliers ..wonder why more pipe makers don’t use it.

[Green Piper]

Personally, I haven’t had any real issues with ‘fake’ ivory. On my McCallum drones, it is off-white, not blazing white and it looks fine to me and from a distance of more than a couple of feet, I doubt anyone could really tell the difference.

On my Robertson’s the fake ivory is casein, which has darkened and cracked a little bit. Still, I like how it looks.

Of the antler fittings I have seen, it seemed a bit pale to me - lacking the warmth of real ivory. However, it has been as photos only. I really like the look of tagua nut fittings, but it seems that they’re inconsistent.

Charlie

[CalumII]

Originally Posted by el gaitero

But meanwhile there is faux ivory / ivorine similar to as used by R.T. Shepherd that even with close scrutiny looks uniquely ‘similar’.

It’s readily available from suppliers ..wonder why more pipe makers don’t use it.

A lot of the "fake ivories" are made by mixing two slightly different coloured plastics together incompletely. The result is often brittle and difficult to turn. There are good quality options, but they are expensive.

[erracht]

I have nothing against it myself. My go-to pipes would always be a set of standard "military pattern" full imitation ivory (or full historic (used) or mammoth/mastodon ivory); this is the style that I like the most.

Of course, it's a matter of quality of the material. I'm no fan of the many catalin-mounted sets that have all turned yellow/orange with age. And the artificial ivory should be something durable. I had a set of Kintails that had two flaws, on of which was that the imitation ivory, while rather realistic-looking, was of a very brittle material. Thankfully both my old Dunbars and my Fletchers (with which I replaced the Kintails) have artificial ivory made of a solid plastic.

[phinson]

I have an old set of pipes with "Ivorine" or "French Ivory" projecting mounts. A lot of people who see the set think the mounts are ivory at first sight. The mounts are a cream color and the material was made with lines in it to resemble ivory.

This stuff is actually celluloid. It is very stable once finished. But in the shaping process it proved to be highly combustable when exposed to temperatures of 150 Celsius or higher. Evidently there were a few shop fires that started back in the day when pipe makers were shaping the celluloid. So use was discontinued among pipe makers.

Seeing in El Gaitero's post that Shepherd is using Ivorine. I wondered what their safety measures are.

Paul Hinson

[DNorwood]

Isn't Dave Atherton offering an incredible looking art ivory on his pipes?

He may not be the only one doing so.

[el gaitero]

Originally Posted by phinson

I.

Seeing in El Gaitero's post that Shepherd is using Ivorine. I wondered what their safety measures are.

Paul Hinson

..I don’t know the exact or trade name of what Shepherd uses....I’ve known ‘ivorine’ as another generalized description of faux ivory. That ‘look’ stuff was pictured here on BD some while ago....I had the impression it was even better.