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Priemsy
11th August 2007, 05:20 PM
Anybody ever turned animal bone? Would you do it green or dry?

Paul

bsrlee
11th August 2007, 08:56 PM
You have to 'treat' the bone first or it will go rancid. The quick way involves soaking in Hydrogen Peroxide for several hours, the 'traditional' way used 'lime water' for a few weeks - basically you have to get the fats out of the bone matrix without removing either the collagen or calcium.

Also, a very well fitting fine dust mask or complete respirator hood is also required - you may not have gotten all the 'gunk' out of the bone & a lung full of rotting bone dust is a quick trip to the slab.

And if you stuff up & the turning disintegrates, bone fragments are great for causing serious septicemia !

Ivory is much safer, but mastodonts and mammoths are hard to find - I have a pound of mastodont ivory tucked away for 'something special' - and its stayed that way for a bit over 20 years now.

Skew ChiDAMN!!
12th August 2007, 12:42 AM
Definitely not "green" bones unless you're a masochist. Bones left lying in paddocks from old carcasses aren't too good either, as they've started breaking down. Buy from a butcher and treat as bsrlee has described above. :thyel:

Bone's a hard material to source in suitable sizes for turning, 'cos you only want the solid outsides, not the marrow's honeycomb You'll need to either build up laminated blanks from strips or, if you only want a pen-blank sized piece, you can get away with near the knuckle of beef femurs.

Oh... and has anyone mentioned that they stink when you turn 'em? If you don't like the smell of burning hair then make sure you turn it in a well ventilated room, as well as wearing a good mask... :wink:

hi ho sliver
12th August 2007, 12:50 AM
How about tagua instead? Fortunately for you folks in Oz, you have them...we don't...oh we have "nuts" but most of them are in Washington :B

Priemsy
12th August 2007, 12:57 PM
No probs with supply, I kill a steer now and then for our freezer. Why I asked was that I've seen carved bone and it looks great polished, wondered if it would turn. As for smell, if you've ever debeaked chooks professionally, burning bone is no problems.lol.

Paul

Allan at Wallan
12th August 2007, 06:44 PM
Interesting info but not for me thanks.

I will stick to wood - its plentiful enough as
it even grows on trees.:D

Allan

____________________________________________

I am not at all worried about dying
... but just hope I am not there at the time.

arose62
13th August 2007, 12:46 AM
Hmmm,

my 14 y.o. son has just started his first job, at a butchers.

I recently read an article (by Bonnie Klein??) about turning bone, for buttons, lace bobbins, etc. so I asked for and received a free beef shin bone.

It's been soaking, and laying near an ants' nest, and picked at by magpies, and tumbled in a bucket of gravel and bicarb soda solution.

The idea was to use it as an accent on a beefwood pen for his boss (beefwood and bone - pretty punnish for a pen for a butcher, hey??)

The warnings here (ie: re death:oo: ) are the strongest I've seen anywhere, so I'll treat it like cocobolo when I get around to it.

All I've read says that scraping is the way to go when turning.

Cheers,
Andrew

Richard Findley
13th August 2007, 08:19 AM
Hi All,

Ivory and Bone turning is a slightly different ball game than wood turning but it can be done with some great results.

It's best used in small amounts for decoration like on a box lid. Take a look at my friend John Berkeley's website (http://www.johnberkeley.co.uk/specials.htm) (especially the top of the Zulu puzzel box!!) who specialises in this sort of work!

His bone is normally bought from pet shops I believe and can be bought cleaned or bleached (I think:B ) he then soaks it overnight in boiling water then uses it from there.

Hope this is of some help,

Richard

bsrlee
13th August 2007, 08:31 PM
Almost forgot - most 'commercial' bone for ornaments is camel bone - seems it is the thickest, most solid and comes in larger pieces than other readily available animal bone - elephants are in short supply here abouts.

Cliff Rogers
13th August 2007, 10:25 PM
I shared a house for a while with a bloke who used to carve it with a dremel.... IT STINKS. :yuk: :puke: