The Bone Yard

[whitebuffalo58]

Oooooh, ok. I see now. Don't know about matching perfect with the original, but those would make stunning handles on any knife. You surely do have a keen eye and steady hand.

WB

[big monk]

Just wanted to add my ""WOW"" to the thread !!!! I totally agree,with the others,Kaleb !!!! Great looking scales,my friend___Monk

[blademaker]

Very Nice! What an inspiration! How do you dry or neutraize your material?

[muskrat man]

Very Nice! What an inspiration! How do you dry or neutraize your material?

once i get a good coat of dye on I dry it under a heat lamp and repeat until I get the desired color. after hafting the colors will lighten at the hafted ends and I just touch up as needed, I am going to experiment using a small vaccum chamber with my dye to get commercial results.

[trutemper]

Beautiful jigging! Always impressed with your work!

Bob

[Iron Hoarder]

Have you tried boiling the dye into the bone before cutting? Ive wondered what kind of penetration you can get if you just saw off the ends, cut the rounds to length, bore out the marrow and then give it a good soak and then boil in chosen coloring. I've got an old chemical process/recipe book from the 1890's to 1900 with assorted mixes for different industrial processes including dyes. I plan to give the ones that use ingredients that are still available and not imminently fatal a try when I get a chance.

[Saw Filer]

You Sir...are not normal!....in a good way
Is there any specific bones from a cow that you prefer best?

[orvet]

Is there any specific bones from a cow that you prefer best?

I am told they use only the shin bones from the legs, as they support the most weight and are the most dense.

Although every now & again I buy a beef soup bone (thigh bone) and cut it into 2 or 3 chunks for my dogs to chew on. The dogs love it and come up with their own unique jigjing patterns.
I think the thigh bone is more than thick enough and dense enough that they would work for knife handles just as well as the shin bones.

[muskrat man]

unless the cattle are very large, shin bones are not the best. But you can get some good thick slabs fro mthe edges of the shins. thigh bones do work well and I get some of my largest slabs from them and from what I think are the foreleg bones

[wlf]

Have you tried boiling the dye into the bone before cutting? Ive wondered what kind of penetration you can get if you just saw off the ends, cut the rounds to length, bore out the marrow and then give it a good soak and then boil in chosen coloring. I've got an old chemical process/recipe book from the 1890's to 1900 with assorted mixes for different industrial processes including dyes. I plan to give the ones that use ingredients that are still available and not imminently fatal a try when I get a chance.

Just as long as it is not imminently fatal.

[wlf]

Someone used the same stabilizer used on wood and canned in a jar,thereby vacuum forcing into the bone.I think I read it here somewhere.

Are any of the bones in a deer usable,there is always one laying in the ditch around here.(without antlers)The bucks are a little more cautious,except in rut.

[orvet]

unless the cattle are very large, shin bones are not the best. But you can get some good thick slabs fro mthe edges of the shins. thigh bones do work well and I get some of my largest slabs from them and from what I think are the foreleg bones

The shinbone is the foreleg; it is the metacarpus in the front lower leg of cattle.
I do agree that the thigh is probably the thickest of the bones in cattle and the best for large slabs.

[muskrat man]

I meant forearm bone (radius). The others that work well are the tibia, metacarpus, and metatarsus. On older cows the radius is fused to the ulna and the ulna will need to be shaved off, on slightly younger cattle it is not fused and is a nice long, flat bone. I can sometimes get slabs up to 6"x1.5" out of these bones.

[treefarmer]

Muskrat Man, Just noticed the cow bone chart, found an equine chart and was wondering which bone you would prefer if I can tell them apart? Treefarmer

[wlf]

The reason,I expect for the bone suppliers usage of the shin bone,was that it is the only part of a beef that doesn't have a cut of meat in it.

I don't expect many of us have eaten beef shanks,except in ground beef.