Bone Tools

[TexasLady]

5/23/12

Thanks, lightningad. Good ol' beeswax. Yes, being a hardword would surely be the reason that it's a good slicker. That you used a belt sander,... does that mean that you made it smooth and flat,... like a letter opener? Would you be able to upload a photo of it? With my little ring-shaped steak bones, I'm thinking of making something with grooves for slicking the edges of my leather. Here's the link to the Tandy version. - TexasLady

http://www.tandyleat...keyword=slicker

Edited May 23, 2012 by TexasLady

[Northmount]

Don't need a bandsaw, any fine toothed saw will work, even a hacksaw. The coarser the teeth, the rougher the cut. Then you'll spend more time sanding the edges.

Can use a coping saw if you want any fancy curves. Low cost if you don't have one already.

CTG

Edited May 23, 2012 by northmount

[TexasLady]

5/23/12

Hi, northmount. Yes, I've been slowly coming to that conclusion myself. Now, keep in mind that the bone is already cut smoothly. It's the insides of it that I've been asking for help on. Shaping the outside will be the 'fun' and relatively easy part of the process. So, not that I don't need advice on that, too, but I hadn't started asking for help on that yet. What I 'have' finally begun to conclude is that I should use a very fine coping saw,... even a jeweler's saw,... to remove the marrow and boney/spongy material from the inside of the bone. I should insert the blade through the hole in the bone. Then, I should attach the blade to the hacksaw. The irregularities of the inside of the bone should keep me well entertained while sawing. - TexasLady

Here's what my beef bones look like:

http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2010/02/17/roasted-marrow-bones/

And as a 'free public service', I also found this link, with the right vocabulary for what I'm saying that I need to remove from my beef bones. Maybe 'too much information' (TMI)?

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/92222/cancellous-bone

"cancellous bone, also called trabecular bone or spongy bone, ... light, porous bone enclosing numerous large spaces that give a honeycombed or spongy appearance. The bone matrix, or framework, is organized into a three-dimensional latticework of bony processes, called trabeculae, arranged along lines of stress. The spaces between are often filled with marrow."

[WinterBear]

You can get rid of a lot of that honeycombed stuff with some eye protection, a small cold chisel, a vise, a pad of old towel or something similar, and a non-metal mallet. You don't want to drive yourself crazy by doing more sawing than you need to. Just pad the bone and clamp it in the vise, pop your eye protection on, and using light taps on the chisel with a wooden mallet (never use metal-to-metal on impact tools--ruins the tools and may splinter metal), and break out the boney core. A half-round file or a round file usually works to smooth the interior juts that remain attached. A jeweler's saw is gennerally not going to work for cutting pieces off the compact or dense bone, unless you like a lot of sawing. You'll make more progress with a coping saw for any long straight cuts, and use the jeweler's saw for small precise cuts and curves.

[TexasLady]

5/23/12

Thanks, WinterBear. Every little bit helps. Eye protection - check. Vise - check. Wooden (or nylon, or rawhide) mallet - check. Padding for the bone - check. I have a skinny wood chisel. But that's not what you mean, is it? You mean like this, don't you? >> http://www.amazon.co.uk/VISA-Tools-Small-Steel-Chisel/dp/B004NC4S3Q Okay. But the half-round or round file,... I would use that after washing out all of the grease that I could get off of the bone, wouldn't I? Otherwise, it wouldn't 'file'. It would just get all gummed up with the grease, right? - TexasLady

[WinterBear]

Yeah, something like that. And yes, file after the bone is degreased and dry. You won't be able to file damp bone either. You can soak the bone in hot (but not boiling) water and borax to degrease.

[TexasLady]

5/23/12

Borax. Good idea. I'd forgotten about Borax. I have a box of it on hand. Thanks. - TexasLady

[TexasLady]

5/30/12

I worked on one of my round steak bones this morning,... with limited successs. Yes, the chisel did remove some of the larger chunks of spongy-bone material, WinterBear, but it was too coarse for finishing the job. I used the largest gouge of my linoleum cutting tool set, and that got me very close to what I was trying to accomplish. Still, I'll need to find a way to file it smooth on the inside surface. The problem is that when a bone has even a touch of pink color to it, it stinks terribly,... like a carcas, of course. I don't think that this will go away any time soon. That bone I worked on is now soaking in water with borax. I hope that the smell will diminish.

The good news is that some of my round steak bones were perfectly white, with no spongy-bone material inside at all. I was able to make a slicker from one of them. Here's are two views of the same bone slicker. I'm sorry that the photos are so large. I tried to reduce them, but wasn't able. Thanks to everyone on this Thread for your help. - Texas Lady

Edited May 30, 2012 by TexasLady

[robertmeco]

Here is a link for bones i use for boning I use one of these bones every day making my holsters these come very smooth and no smell

http://www.basketsofjoy.com/bone-awl.aspx

Edited May 30, 2012 by robertmeco

[WinterBear]

Yeah, it's the grease and blood caught in the pores and decomposing that is causing the smell. If the borax doesn't give you satisfactory results, toss it out in the sun. Secure it from rodents and dogs, and let the UV and the heat take care of things. A week or three shouldn't cause too much degradation, but I don't think it will take that long. If that fails though, you can always try a peroxide soak.

For the ones that are still too rough inside, a round file should take care of that. Or, if you have no file, wrap emery cloth or sandpaper around a dowel to smooth things down. Even cheap manicure sticks with the abrasive surfaces can work, and can be split lengthwise to get into narrower spots.