BH: "Ha!  not at all.  I really had to scramble.   I was still a beginner at a very tough art form.  I continued pen and ink drawing, selling prints, doing mural painting  - anything to survive.  I also  worked full-time as a technical illustrator, doing scrimshaw on the side.  About 1993 I took the plunge and began doing scrimshaw full-time."

JM: "Tell me about your technique, the tools you use to etch your designs?"

BH: "First, a little correction.  Etch isn't the proper term.   Etching is the action of an acid as it 'bites' into a surface.  Scrimshaw's technique is incision, or cutting, or as I usually call it, "scratching".   OK, with that cleared up, I generally use extremely sharp (and fragile) carbide points held in a pin vise.  I've used dozens of variations, sometimes sharpened drill bits or welding rods held in drafting lead holders.  I usually draw my design on paper, shrink the design to size,  then attach the design to the ivory and poke right through the paper to create a sort of  "connect-the-dot" effect.  Then I remove the paper and fill in the details.  Pretty simple."

JM: "I notice you have a stereo microscope."

BH: "Yeah, I use it almost all the time.  I generally work at the lower magnification.  About 5-7x power.  I got tired  of jewelers' loupes and magnifying lenses.  And when it comes to putting eyelashes on a face the size of a pencil eraser, it's tough to beat."

JM: "What about materials to work on, any favorites?"

BH: "My overall favorite has to be mammoth or mastodon ivory.  I love the creamy color.  I've recently started using some of the artificial ivories, which I like a lot.  I'm  not referring to Micarta, but materials  which actually have a grain pattern molded in.  These tend to be a little soft, but if they don't see heavy use, they make a good, stable  ivory substitute.  Knife makers can be driven crazy by natural ivory that can swell or shrink, or sometimes crack."

JM: "Any ivories you don't like?"

BH: "Well fossil walrus is  hard. Elephant can be difficult, too.   The harder ivories can take as much as twice the scratching to achieve the same result as the softer varieties."

JM: "I notice some guitars here with scrim on them.  What's up?"

BH: "I've been working with a couple custom guitar makers.  We recently made a guitar for the Allman  Brothers' guitarist.  We're also working on a vintage re-issue of Merle Travis' guitar, and a guitar  with a solid ivory fingerboard.  A huge project."

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This article has been reproduced with the permission of Knives Illustrated.
It was featured in their August 1998 Issue.   Copyright © 1998 Knives Illustrated.

If you are interested in commissioning work or purchasing a piece pictured here, please send e-mail to the address listed.

Micro-Scrimshaw
by Bob Hergert
12 Geer Circle
Port Orford, OR 97465
(541)-332-3010

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