I learned that lesson about ivory grain the hard way. A buddy, who worked for a widely known ivory carver in Ohio, gave me a small piece from which I wanted to make a couple shotgun beads. My approach was to mount a piece of ivory onto a tiny threaded brass post which ran through the bead and is visible when viewed from above. Two failed attempts wherein the ivory came apart during the turning stage after it was epoxied onto the shaft elicited the advice from my friend to pay heed to grain direction. Problem solved.
As an aside, I routinely removed the middle bead from all my competition and bird guns as soon as I acquired them. I (and a lot of serious gunners I know) consider them to be superfluous. In fact a few guys I knew removed their front beads also. Anything that distracts one's eye from tracking the target/bird is usually a hindrance.
