Cattle Bones

S

Scott Park

Joined
Feb 20, 1999
Messages
38
I was wondering if cattle bones could be used for handle material? I have a good supply that my dog keeps bringing to the house
smile.gif
.

------------------
"Boy, if ya don't screw up once in a while, ya ain't learnin' nuthin'" - An old cowboy
 
i went to the trouble of buying a bunch of big cattle bones from a small country packing house one time(yes, bought. seems they sell all they have to oriental restaurants for stock)I boiled the bones in Sodium Carbonate to degrease. All in all I got very little that was useable, the wall thickness of the bones plus the curvature of the surface made very limited the size of the flat pieces that you could saw out. i was using the big leg femurs, but perhaps another bone might work better. I think that maybe shin bones are solid. But other than the above, bone is nice stuff to work with, can be dyed, jigged, etc.
 
I bet the majority of the bone handle material you buy from knife suppliers is cow bone. I wonder if the ribs would make good folder handles??
Scott, sounds like one fine dog!!!You should train him to fetch antlers for you!!
biggrin.gif
Take care! Michael

------------------
"Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!"
 
I have been using cow bones for several years. The only ones that are suitable for my handle material is the shin bone. It is the only one that has any amount of flat area to it that is usuable. For a full size knife handle, two shin bones are required. I use a band saw to cut (always allow a little extra) the bone. The bone that I use has been outside long enough to be clean and show some cracks. Some of the cracks will go all the way through and some are on the surface. Make sure that the bone is dry when you put it on the knife. It will shrink a lot more than you think it will.
CAUTION - DANGER :::: The dust from the bone will cause a congested lung problem similar to pneumonia and is dangerous. I use the face mask that painters use and just put a piece of heavy napkin like paper on the outside to keep from clogging up the original filter. This will make the more expensive filters last longer. When attaching the bone to the tang, I use epoxy and rough up the pins before inserting them through the "slightly" oversized holes in the bone. Bone is fairly brittle and to peen them very much is asking for it to break. Allow 1/16" to stick out and peen just enough to see the flare of the pin. Sand to about 400 grit, fill all holes, surface cracks, etc with super glue. Sand again to 400 grit and "lightly" polish with buffer, preferably a clean one. Bone has a tendency to collect polishing compound in the crevices of the material.
When shaping the bone, the pins used will have to be replaced with longer pins when the time come to epoxy. I like to use the natural bone even when it would be a lot easier to buy it. Sometimes the bone can have some history too.
I have tried the different parts of bone and most are not thick enough or straight enough to make a handle. Even some of the big bone are hollow.

------------------
Ray Kirk
http://www.tah-usa.net/raker
 
Thanks for the info guys. I guess I'll tinker with them bones and see what I can do with them.
My dog drags all sorts of things home, but I hope he finds some talonite or maybe a wilton grinder!
smile.gif

Thanks again guys

------------------
"Boy, if ya don't screw up once in a while, ya ain't learnin' nuthin'" - An old cowboy
 
I read a short while back on the knifelist that you can flatten 1/4 cuts of bovine ivory just like is done with horn. Heat in boiling water then press in vice. It may take more than one heating to get it flat. If you go too much it will crack and split. It is not supposed to have a memory and try to curl back up like some horn material does.

ckknives
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top