Restoring an Irreplaceable Prehistoric Mammoth Tusk

How does one go about restoring a 20,000 year old woolly mammoth tusk? Yes… as in the woolly mammoth, who walked the earth 300,000 years ago. If this is the first time you’ve had to consider this question, you aren’t alone. 

With every project, there’s a unique variable; something that makes it stand out from the rest. Over time, no matter what that variable has been, something that has remained a constant has been the ability to source more materials. Whether a portion of a table top has been irreparably cracked, or table legs have been shaved down a little too far; the option to purchase more materials to finish the project has always existed. That’s what makes this project as exciting as it is nerve wracking. When working with a relic that once belonged to a creature who has been extinct for roughly 10,000 years, there’s essentially one chance to get it right. 

The goal 

Complete an aesthetically appealing restoration of a woolly mammoth tusk, honoring its intrinsic beauty and historic relevance. As this was the first woolly mammoth tusk restoration that has taken place at Blacktail Studio, it presented some challenges and a great opportunity for growth. 

Shopping for ancient artifacts 

You might be wondering where on earth someone would find a 20,000 year old mammoth tusk, let alone how much one might cost. This mammoth tusk was unearthed at a gold mine in Alaska, and was purchased for $7500 much to the chagrin of Elana. To see what picking up a mammoth tusk from an airline looks like click here. 

A pleasant mineral surprise 

While unwrapping the tusk for the first time, two things were overwhelming: the color, and the scent. When choosing to restore part of an animal’s tooth from the prehistoric era, nobody tells you how terrible it is going to smell. Imagine spoiled meat that has been forgotten for a handful of centuries, and then unearthed… not a great aromatic experience. The smell aside, something incredible that stood out was the pale blue color, surrounding a large portion of the tusk’s surface. That color comes from something called Vivianite. 

Vivianite is a stunning, rare mineral that grows on organic materials like animal remains, decomposing bodies, and fossils.

Drying the tusk

In order to work with this tusk, it needed to be properly dried. It was bound with a number of adjustable stainless steel hose clamps, which were tightened periodically throughout the drying process. This helped to slowly close the tusk’s cracks, as it dried for over a year. To truly appreciate the time and effort it took to dry this tusk, watch the year-long tusk drying process here.

Don’t overcook the tusk 

After the tusk had spent months drying and nearly all of the visible cracks had been closed by the clamps, it was time to visit the wood-drying experts at Goby Walnut. When discussing how the kiln drying process might affect the ivory, a feeling of sheer horror arose when the realization that choosing to use something like a vacuum kiln could remove too much moisture too quickly, and destroy the tusk. Choosing to use a low heat kiln, the tusk spent a month drying, bringing the total water-weight loss to 26 pounds! When I first picked up the tusk, it was 115 lbs, and after the Goby kiln cycle, it weighed in at a svelte 89 lbs. 

Birthplace of a prank 

Throughout the restoration, it was evident that Elana was not overly excited about the idea of an ancient fossil being put on display in our home. While discussing whether or not she had seen the tusk, Scott concocted the idea to create a second, purposefully crappy-looking, tusk to present to her in place of the real one. To visit the writer’s room where this idea came to be, to learn about power tool compensation, and experience dead maple CrossFit click here.

Restoration process 

Applying a thin layer of epoxy to the tusk’s surface helped to stabilize any loose portions of the ivory, before moving forward with the sanding and crack filling. 

Sanding ivory

According to the Mohs Scale, sanding ivory is comparable to sanding aluminum, brass, copper, or bronze. It sounds and smells like a dental cleaning on steroids, and is a lot more difficult to work with than wood. While sanding the tusk, a glimpse at its final finish started to appear; boasting a beautifully light, but rich natural ivory tone.

Filling the cracks

After heavily researching what would make the best filler for the cracks in the tusk, a mixture of bone dust (literally), epoxy, and dye was used to effectively fill the cracks and compliment the ivory tone. 

Sketchy delivery 

Amidst the bone ash and epoxy crack-filling, a strange package showed up in the mail: a white powder. After cutting into the powder with the trusty JerryRig knife, not only did it look purer, more expensive, and easier to work with; it was also a legitimately better quality bone ash. Being newer to working with bone ash, it wasn’t initially obvious that there were different tiers of product. 

Side note: Low quality bone ash can affect the amount of unwanted speckle in the final finish.

Drilling holes in the tusk 

The intent of the base design for this project was to create a floating appearance for the tusk. In order to accomplish this, a hole needed to be drilled into the tusk so that the base pole could support it. Needless to say, drilling into this tusk was a nail biter.  

The base 

There’s something incredibly satisfying about working with people who are experts at their craft. For the tusk base, Ryan, from Ace Metalworks cut the steel frame with masterful precision, while the welding and chamfering for the stand was performed by Joe, of Otter’s Custom Fab. Joe is a professional metal worker who spends most of his time customizing hot-rods, and Ryan is a commercial welder and fabricator.

Attachment lessons: Construction adhesive requires air to harden, something that does not exist inside of a tusk (watch here). To properly attach this tusk to the base, a mixture of silica filler and marine epoxy was used to secure the tusk to the base, likely for the rest of time.

Fine tuning the tusk 

This tusk was thoroughly inspected for imperfections during the polishing stage. Grits 80-2000 were used to carefully allow the tusk’s natural sheen to radiate. Next, a series of brown sharpies were used, in conjunction with a Tortillon, to fill in some of the darker portions of the bone. Sharpies are essentially a concentrated dye and provide ample quality for this task. Finally, the N3 Hardcoat was applied to provide an added layer of protection. 

Branch tusk vs. The real thing 

In the end, Elana was way too observant to be fooled by the tree tusk, and that joke ended up backfiring on me in the end. See the full reaction, complete with dirty jokes here.

Reveal

The prank slightly backfiring aside, the final product of the restoration looked great. The tusk’s natural, primeval aesthetic featured in full sheen, complimented by the understated, yet functional allure of the steel base. It felt like capturing a snapshot of history and revitalizing it. 

If you want to see the ins and outs of working with an ancient artifact, the fake mammoth tusk reveal, how filming looks without Scott, and much more; watch the full video here. Let us know if you approve of this tusk restoration, if you appreciate a good prank, if you would eat mammoth carcass, or what the weirdest thing you have eaten is; in the comments below. If you like what you see, subscribe to the channel for more upcoming content and like the video.