I’ve had a few requests to see an image of what my pink ivory Abell whistles look like. Below is an image of the D and high F whistles . . . let me know if there are any problems with it.
Stuart
So you’re the one! Chris told me about your whistles when he was making me a pink ivory whistle with gold trim. The one he sent me had a crack at the top so he took it back and made me a Madagascar Rosewood one instead. The pink ivory looked better. But I prefer the smell of the madagascar rosewood. Anyway, those are some beautiful whistles. You have some pipes made of pink ivory wood, right?
pink ivory?
On 2002-12-10 15:53, TelegramSam wrote:
pink ivory?
You know, from pink elephants.
{{grinning maniacally…glint of acquisition in eyes}}
On 2002-12-10 15:53, TelegramSam wrote:
pink ivory?
Bloomfield: 
Yup. Skip Healy’s quite taken with Pink Ivory. He’s using them for fifes and I think they’re an option for flutes too.
Bagpipeworks has made several Uilleann sets in pink ivory. Here’s a picture of 2 chanters:
http://www.bagpipeworks.com/Dscn2107.jpg
Wow. Imagine how “festive” pink ivory chanter and drones would like with a nice red clan tartan. Who’d need to play it to frighten the enemy?
Sam, in case you were worried, here’s a link to put your mind at ease:
http://african-hardwoods.com/pinkivory/
Andrea ~*~
Yeah, I like it. I do have a set of pipes made out of pink ivory. HIGHLAND pipes! With contrasting (darker piece) pink ivory mounts! Yikes!
I’ll have to take a picture of them, too.
Stuart
On 2002-12-10 17:53, aderyn wrote:
Sam, in case you were worried, here’s a link to put your mind at ease:
http://african-hardwoods.com/pinkivory/Andrea ~*~
Thank you, Andrea. FWIW, I was just a little bit concerned along those lines myself.
Andrea, thanks for the ‘vvood’ link.
(say that fast, three times)
Glad to have been assistance in putting Bloomy-pie’s pink elephant theory to rest! 
Andrea ~*~
Well, you may shay what you like, I was sure I shaw a pink ewephant. Sherioushly!
Thish one’s fer you, Bloomy! 
Wow! Pretty whistles!
This wood is great to work with when it works, and a real female dog when it doesn’t. I had one gorgeous piece develop a very serious crack during the boring. I was able to fix it, and will probably finish up the whistle to keep, leaving the crack on the back, because the piece is simply too pretty to totally trash.
The color of Pink Ivory is also quite variable. Your Abells are on the darker end of the range-- I have some which is quite a bit lighter, and some which fades from darker to lighter. There is also some subtle subsurface graining which does not show up well on photos-- a sort of iridescence which shifts and changes as you hold the finished wood up to the light at different angles. Very beautiful.
Thanks for the wood link, whoever posted it. It may be a useful source for me, and close enough that I could make a weekend trip there and select wood in person.
It might be my monitor, but those whistles look pretty red to me. The chanters look almost orange. I’ve seen a couple of Skip’s pink ivory fifes, and they were all a rather pale pink. I had no idea there was so much variation in the color of pink ivory!
For those who didn’t already know, Skip Healy learned instrument making from Chris Abell. Maybe he learned to like pink ivory from Chris as well.
But what do they SOUND like??
Good question, Nick.
I’ll tell the truth: I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between pink ivory and African blackwood in a blindfolded sound test.
If no one can convince me that it would somehow be easier to play or maintain, I’ll save myself the extra money and continue with blackwood.
I can assure you it’s no more difficult to maintain than blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon), since I have highland pipes made from both and have had the pink ivory set for almost 4 years. As for the sound . . . the pipemaker who made my pipes made a total of 4 sets of drones from pink ivory which are scattered to the 4 winds as far as I know. He (pipemaker) claims that pink ivory is an absolutely marvelous tonewood but that the color put too many GHB-buyers off so he hasn’t made more. I have heard and played identical-spec sets of drones made from both timbers, and I think the sound is different. Maybe richer but a little more subdued from the pink ivory? Timber differences in tone are subtle at best, in my opinion.
As for why I have the whistles . . . well, if I hadn’t played and then bought the highland pipes, I never would have heard of the stuff. When I ordered my Abell whistles, in passing I asked Chris about the “other timbers availble on request.” He mentioned he had enough pink ivory to make a full set, so I was sold. I got them more because (a) I liked the timber, and (b) I thought it would be nice to have a really distinctive set of whistles.
On the cost front, I found a website with prices for a few representative timbers . . .
Pink ivory (Berchemia zeyheri) $14/lb
Madagascar ebony (Diospyrus spp.) $46.12/bf
Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa) $17.20/bf
African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon) $8/lb
Tulipwood (Dalbergia frutescens) $30.25/bf
Prices are for 4/4 timber.
That’s just a sample of the stuff I found. And I realize some of it’s apples::oranges. Why are pink ivory and blackwood sold by the pound? I wonder how much a typical board-foot of each of those would cost. I guess I am surprised at the prices a little, since I’ve seen people charge more for blackwood (not for pink ivory in my experience), but they usually charge less for tulipwood and cocobolo . . . Hmm.
Any woodfolks out there who can interpret the numbers?
Stuart
[ This Message was edited by: sturob on 2002-12-11 17:23 ]