I've been experimenting with the whalers' art of scrimshaw the last couple of days. Mammoth tusk and whale bone are a little tough to come by these days so I decided to test it out on a plastic domino. I got the domino set from an estate sale hoping that it was ivory (which would have been a huge find) but it turned out to be cheap plastic. I guess I was a little too hopeful.
The plastic isn't very porous so the ink has trouble sticking to the etched lines. I've heard deer antlers make a fairly good substitute, and if I wasn't worried about permanence I could always use soap.
Still, this was a fun experiment and I hope to do more in the future.
