How to finish jigged bone

[Randy3000]

So i sold a bunch of junk around the house, and ended up with a fair amount of Paypal money. After shopping around i found that Culpepper accepts PayPal so i spent everything and ended up with a ton of jigged bone handle scales. I got them today and am pretty stoked about it. But i noticed the scales appear to just be dyed, and are a little porous compared to bone i see on knives typically. Do i need to seal these somehow to finish them???

 

[mknife]

I work them the same way I use for sambar and other similar materials. I do not use any fillers... to better understand it would be useful if you could post a photo.

 

[Busto]

My experience with those scales is that they have excess dye which I just wipe off with a rag. There is no need to seal them prior to finishing. I always flat sand the backs on a surface plate to remove any high spots and inspect for cracks. Once they are fitted drilled and assembled I will lightly buff with pink rouge which evens out the texture which is what you normally see on jigged bone.

 

[Don Hanson III]

I use a fine wire brush or wheel, then buff.

 

[Randy3000]

Alright, sounds good to me! I got a fine wire brush and pink buffing stuff already! Thanks guys.

 

[SBuzek]

I use acetone and a rag to remove the bulk of excess dye (wear nitrile gloves or you will wear the dye for a while )
Then a quick wash with dawn dish soap and a soft bristle brush, thin from the back and buff lightly with pink no scratch.

 

[Busto]

I use a fine wire brush or wheel, then buff.

The fine wire wheel is a good idea I had never thought of....Thanks for the tip

 

[Don Hanson III]

The fine wire wheel is a good idea I had never thought of....Thanks for the tip

There is more than one way to skin a cat. The wire wheel sets up the surface very well for buffing. I also strip most of the compound off the wheel before buffing. And use WD-40 to clean the compound off the scales if needed.

 

[Horsewright]

I keep a separate sisal buffing wheel set up (I have five buffers) without any compound on it. I've found it very useful for cleaning gunk out of the jigged bone after buffing. I put a coat of car wax on after that and the other side of this buffer is a wax only wheel. I'll wax the whole knife.

 

[Randy3000]

Waxing sounds like what I was thinking originally. I'll take a trimmed off piece and try a few things and see what i like.

 

[Horsewright]

I do the waxing after the knife is completely finished. I grind the backs flat, stick em on the blade and grind and sand like any other material. Then buff, then wax.

 

[Busto]

I have a separate buffing wheel just for pink compound and I keep it real clean and raked and the WD-40 is helpful in removing residue especially on light bone and mammoth.

 

[Geoff Flato]

I've taken to preferring Zam and lustrebar over pink for virtually everything. I probably have Two dozen buffing wheels. Each of my baldors has one wheel between flanges that I use regularly, and a spiral point on the other side for changing wheels quickly.
A flannel wheel with a light application of lustrebar does a great job on ivory and bone

 

[Geoff Flato]

Also, a loose or flannel wheel charged with a bar of pure carnauba wax is great both for a final shine, and removing traces of your finishing compound from handle material.