Jigged bone WIP

Bailey Knives

Bailey Knives

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 18, 2004
Messages
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I have been making my own jigged bone. It is really pretty easy, so I hesitate to post it here lest people find out that it is quite simple. There is really not a whole lot to it. I basically gouge out grooves in bone and then soak it in potassium permanganate. Here is the WIP that people actually want to see.

Here is the bone as I get it. I usually buy it from Trugrit. It is just your basic cow bone. I normally even up the flats to make sure they are really flat. I also do this after the potassium permanganate treatment (heretofor referred to as the PP treatment, not sure if that is any better, but oh well.)
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I picked up a carbide bit for my rotozip foredom thing. It has a bunch of little spikes arranged in a ball. I would love to see a "How It's Made" episode on these things.
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Here it is after the first run. I go half way and then turn the scale around to do the other half. Wear a respirator, not only to protect your lungs, but because bone stinks when you turn it to dust.
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Here it is half done
Those of you who share lineage with Sherlock Holmes will notice that the last picture does not have a groove in common with this picture. That is because this one is a different scale.
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Here are all of them done
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Just an off topic shot of some of the stuff I have on the anvil. At least one of these will have some of these jigged bone scales on them.
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Here they are ready to go into the PP. I let them soak overnight, then let them dry for a day or two. No one ever accused me of having a neat work station.
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Thanks Matt! You always have the best WIP's!! Judging by all the stuff in the background of the last pic, I'd say you're quite the little mad scientist!
 
Thanks, Matt.
I hope you're going to follow this up with your post-dying process. :thumbup:
How you clean them up, high-light, seal, buff/polish, etc.??
 
I plan on it. They are still in the jar now. I forgot to take them out before work. It isnt really a big deal, the PP doesnt soak into the bone too deeply. I will let them dry for a day or so, then I will put them on a knife.
 
Good deal Matt. I too would like to see more of the process. Thanks.
 
Matt - This thread is right on time as I'm considering doing my own jigged bone slabs for a knife I'm currently building.

I have some powdered PP and can never tell if I get the concentration right. Your mixture looks to be pretty dark..... what ration of PP and water do you use? Will this process work also work on antler(moose and deer)?

Thanks for putting this together.

-Peter
 
Ok, Next step. First of all, gloves of some type are pretty important unless you want your skin dyed deep brown for the next few days. The PP really stains anything it comes in contact with, and if the substance is organic, it turns it brown.

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Interestingly enough, it comes out of the potassium permanganate a deep purple. When it dries it turns brown.

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You can see the purple on the paper towel in this shot.

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I bought a food dehydrator quite some time ago. It was actually a great purchase that I have used in a lot of different ways for knifemaking. I set it at a low setting and put the scales inside, and it helps speed up the drying process. This step could easily be done without a dehydrator, but this makes it all go a little quicker.

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This dehydrator has several "shelves". I put the scales on one, slide them in and then let them sit for a few hours. I will probably still not put any of them on a knife for a day or two (at least). I do have some completed scales in the shop, so I can keep this going right away.

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Now to answer some questions. First of all, I can't remember how much PP I put in the water, but I did make it pretty strong. Maybe 2 or 3 teaspoons for the quart jar, maybe a bit more.
Next, the PP ages the bone. It makes it look like stag that has been lying around for a few years. I dont know exactly how, but it also changes color on anything it touches, and actually rusts metal. I think it is some sort of an oxidizer, but I am not a chemist.
 
Bailey Knives said:
I think it is some sort of an oxidizer, but I am not a chemist.
Click to expand...

Yes... it's purple and oxidizes readily. It is used all the time in environmental remediation projects where the solution is injected into groundwater to break down fuels and solvents. I would suggest reading the MSDS for health hazards related to the product.

Looking forward to seeing how these turn out.
 
OK, I guess the jigging part is done, but here is how I put them on my knives. This will not be a terribly involved process, but just a few snapshots of what I do. First of all, there is a high failure rate with the bone. I will sometimes find cracks in it that appear after the whole PP process. I would estimate that for every 10 handle scales I put on, I have 2 or 3 pieces that have cracks in them to the point where I won't use them. Also, bone stinks when you grind it. It smells like burning hair or something. My clothes get all dusty, and my wife hates it when I come in the house after grinding bone.

Anyways, I made a little convex wood thing to put in my cross slide vise for when I am working on radiused bone or other material. Here it is.

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I clamp the bone to the tang with vise grips and place it in the hollow of the wood thing. I use a very sharp drill bit and go slowly. It keeps it from chipping out the back side. If you learn how to sharpen your own drill bits, it makes them last about forever. I have been using the same two drill bits for about 2 years now, and I still have a lot of life in them. I just sharpen them whenever they get a bit dull.

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Here is the knife with the pins set in. I still have to get the mosaic for the middle hole in place. After this, I epoxy it, shape it on the grinder, peen the pins lightly and buff it. I usually take it to about 800-1000 grit before the buffing. Buffing not only makes it shine, but it darkens up the valleys and cleans all the dust out of them. I will rub a light coat of Mother's paste wax over it all (including the blade) then buff with a soft cloth.

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This is the final result. This is not the same knife that was in the pictures before, but I finished it at the same time with the scales that I made. When you hit it lightly on the grinder, it sands off the tops of the peaks. It leaves just the darkened valleys. I usually sand the front edge of the scales a bit more than the back edge, so the front of the scale is pretty white (and a bit thinner) and the back edge has the dark grooves in it.
Hope you liked this.

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Thanks for showing this.

PP is a strong oxidizer, and can cause a fire or explosion if the dry powder is mixed or exposed to many organic things and other chemicals. Store the powder in a tightly closed container, and dispose of paper towels and cloth that were used in clean up properly. Rinsing them out well before disposal is the best way.
 
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