# scrimshaw



## doc623 (Jun 7, 2004)

don't know is this is the right area so move is not.
Any one know about or have experience with or doing scrimshawing?


----------



## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

I've done some...decided it wasn't my medium. Someone on here last year was showing some of his work...maybe that person is still here lurking somewhere 

did you have questions about it? I've tried my hand at working on antique ivory/walrus ivory; and also the same techniques on cow horn....both using scribes(carving) and using a dremel. (dremel is a lot easier, but not as satisfying to me). Staining of the carving with paint or ink, and then polishing the item to remove any paint/ink from the body of the piece.


----------



## doc623 (Jun 7, 2004)

What dremel tip(s)?
Did you coat the material before you started scribing?


----------



## Slev (Nov 29, 2003)

I wish I could get an old world Scotland,(Caldonia) scrimshawed on ...something... I think it would look cool...


----------



## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

after polishing your material, like bone (easy to come by...it's ready for you to cut and polish if you buy a chunk at the pet store!) or horn (i end up using #0000 steel wool for the final polish before carving) you can coat horn with beeswax (or paraffin) so that when you stain the carving later on it doesn't stain the material.

for dremel, it's really best to have as fine a needle point as you can get. Real scrimshaw is done just with a heavy needle...like a quilters needle or even a leather needle...something you can just scratch the horn/bone/antler with. There are some who use a "dot" scrimshaw method. using a fine dremel tool you can just dot the surface in extremely fine patterns to get your drawing.

after you scratch the drawing in, you simply stain it with either thick drawing ink, or a permanent drawing sharpie type pen. use a q-tip to stain with ink. (or you can use oil paint, too. lots of people use colored inks and oil paint to get lovely "paintings")

Couple of links on "how to"
http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/decoustudio/blog/2473 This one is really wordy and often goes off into philosophy, but EXCELLENT work and a good how to if you can wade through the explanation 

http://www.scrimart.u.se/HowTo_Scrimshaw/HowToScrim.htm Nice pictorial using a dremel. 

http://home.cogeco.ca/~sheppard/scrimguide.htm is a nice short explanation of what/how/why and has info on scrimshaw.net, etc. THIS is his page of scrimshaw stuff. Well worth checking out for some simpler, yet lovely, ideas for scrimshaw pieces. (his work sells quite well, btw.)


----------



## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Slev said:


> I wish I could get an old world Scotland,(Caldonia) scrimshawed on ...something... I think it would look cool...


Slev, you're talented  Get started with the craft! Buy a couple of bleached bones at the pet store (they're about a buck at my local petfood store), a couple of leather needles, and start scratching! All it takes is a drawing (like from the computer if nothing else works), a piece of carbon paper to transfer it to your bone, and you're ready to scratch!

It DOES require good eyesight or a set of magnifying glasses. With scrimshaw, it seems to be all about the detail. 

Oh, you can also use an exacto knife to carve lines...specially good on horn, I found.

The reason I didn't pursue it was the detail work made me crazy  I was always making a mistake and getting ticked off at myself.


----------

