Pink Ivory?

[chappy]

Has anyone used pink ebony when making a bow.  I was thinking about using some for the riser of a bow for the wife.  Wondering how easy it is to work with, is it oily, heavy or light?  Thanks for the help.  Any pics would be great.

[Ray Hammond]

you don't mean pink ivory, do you?

[chappy]

Opps.  Yes I do Ray.  Edit time.

[Mdbowman]

I've used it to make knife handles. It is very hard and dense. Making it hard to work, but turns out beautiful. I'd say go for it.

[MJB]

Pink Ivory

 

 Berchemia zeyheri
 
 
   
 
 Family: Rhamnaceae (buckthorn)

Other Names: Red Ivorywood, Umnini, Umgoloti.

Distribution: Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa and scattering in other parts of southern Africa.

The Tree: This is a deciduous tree with a spreading crown and varies in height from under 20 ft (6.1m0 to over 50 ft (15.2m). The boles are usually 7-9 in. (178-229mm) in quarter girth. The flowers are small and greenish-yellow in color. The fruits are small black berries, very similar in appearance to those of the buckthorns.

The Timber: The wood is uniformly bright pink or pale red. The luster is low, and odor and taste are not distinct. It is hard and heavy; when air-dried the weight is 62 lb/ft3 (993 kg/m3). The grain is straight to irregular, while the texture is very fine. The sapwood is almost white, and the pink heartwood, after long exposure, tends to become orange-colored or orange-brown.

Seasoning: Pink Ivory seasons very slowly and needs care to prevent checking.

Durability: The timber is reported to be very strong and stiff.

Workability: It is difficult to work with hand tools, but is an excellent wood for turnery and carving. It takes a high polish. The rays are so close together they are not easily seen.

Uses: Pink ivory cannot be considered a commercial timber because the trees are scattered as to make exploitation a costly process. The small quantities that are felled are used for fancy articles, inlaid work, small turned goods, and carving.

[Ray Hammond]

had a Dale Dye Trails end with the riser made of it.

Frankly, it looked like bubble gum when i first got it...but soon, with exposure to the sun, it darkened pretty nicely and turned an orangy-brown color.

It was heavy, dense wood, and made the riser pretty heavy on the bow...and there are a great many more beautiful woods out there.

It would be cool for a longbow as it would lend some weight to the small handle, making the bow a little more stable in the hand, especially if you don't shoot the longbow with a bowquiver attached.

Hope that helps.

[Lost Arra]

I've got a Bill Matlock Predator X2 longbow that has pink ivory on one side of the riser and holly on the other. The ivory has darkened like Ray mentioned. (It was a custom Bill made for his wife at the time.)

Here you go:
   

   

   

[sticshooter]

Kevin at RERBOWS made a few bows from it. Ya gotta keep it out of sunlight until it is treated I am told? I gave some to Jeremy  and still have a small piece for a handle on a knife.<><

[Bodork]

Here's a pink ivory/ebony bow with a purpleheart stripe bow I made for my daughter. I love the way it looks.  It is pretty dense but not too bad to cut. It gums up a file and sandpaper real fast. Mike