bone or ivory for inlays/fret dots?

I am ordering a custom uke, and one of my wishes is that I have plain, white fret markers and inlay (not MOP).

Does anyone know where you can buy blanks made out of bone or ivory? None of the luthiers with whom I have spoken seem to know of any. Please help.

Thanks in advance,
Jacob.

They are easy to make
Rough cut and round a piece of bone so that you can fit it into a drill press chuck. Decide what diameter you want. Use the drill press to turn it.
Use a simple gauge like this:
http://etoolshop.co.uk/cart/images/457063.jpg
to check the diameter.
I use files and sandpaper to make cylinders. Then saw off dots.

Try Here... http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_...13&_nkw=bone+blanks&_sacat=See-All-Categories

I inlay ivory frequently and I still have a healthy stock of it left over from my scrimshaw days. I recently bought about 15 pounds of clear, light colored mastadon ivory from the Arizona gem show, primarily because it was such a good price. It's out there and not that difficult to find.
Slabs are easily made by first epoxying a tusk chunk onto a plywood cradle and running it through a band saw with 8 to 10 TPI. Wear a mask when working with ivory! I'll then run the small slabs through the thickness sander after sticking them on a piece of plywood with double backed tape. To make dots of any size pick up some brass hobby tubing that has the approximate diameter you need. Cut a 3" section and chuck it (pardon the expression) in to your drill press. Chamfer a sharp edge to the tubing by holding a file to it while it's spinning. Just like using a plug cutter, it is so easy now to punch out all the dots you need.
Good luck

thanks for the replies all.

Chuck, you wouldnt happen to be willing to part with some ivory, would you?

I'd love to buy one of your ukes (I am getting this custom made as a welcome-home-from-afghanistan present to myself) but I just don't think I can swing the price that your ukes command (and from everything I've heard, are well worth.)

So, yeah, if you have a small slab of ivory you'd be willing to part with, shoot me a PM.

Thanks all,
Jacob

Check your PM.