old bones and new rust

D

duane roy

Joined
May 31, 1999
Messages
23
I have a source for some good old (350 years) bone. I can dig it out of the side of a river bank at an old trading post location. Does the bone, (moose, caribou, etc.), begin to break down? Once it's dried out will it crack? Should it sit for an extended period of time? Question #2, I made some great knives out of old saw blades, the down side is they rust quite quickly, the material is unknown. Is there some way to stop the rust, possibily a bake-on paint?
 
What size is the bone,and what color. I usually have my handle materials stabilized anyway. What are you asking for it? I'm sure there are quite a few makers that might be interested.
Tom
 
Some of the bone is dark brown almost chocalate, some is that weird whitish/yellow, it has been underground a while. I'm sure it sucks up lots of moisture. I found some teeth (wild boar?), they cracked within 2 weeks of bringing them in the house. I'm unsure of the "stabilizing" procedure or the exact definition.
 
Now don't write me off as a lunatic until you've actually tried this, but old fashioned stove blacking compound is a pretty good semi-permanent (or long term temporary) rust preventer. And it doesn't look too terrible on steel. I've used it on a couple of very tired shotgun barrels that are often in the elements.
Of course the humidity here is betwixt zero and very little.

------------------
Regards,
Arizona Desert Rat


 
Okay I'll try "stove-blacking" stuff, but what is it? I'm not exactly sure what to ask for at the hardware store, (all our stoves are white in Canada?).
 
Ask for stove paint. I've used it on a VeeWee exhaust system and I think Desert Rat described the appearance well -- it doesn't look too terrible. If you want it to look good Brownell's has a bake-on teflon paint.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
It may not turn out pretty, but you can also use cold gun blue or gun barrel browning solution. Basically it 'rusts' the steel while coloring it, but once the color is set, and oiled to cure it, it is less likely to rust than bare steel.

You can also use the knifemaker's version of a tim allen approach, and just soak the blades in a pan full of lemon or lime juice! It patina's the blade, and also makes it less prone to flash rusting. Not much prep, clean the blades, put them in the juice, and scrub them lightly with some fine steel wool or a scotchbrite pad every half hour or so to keep the acid in the juice working on the steel. Continue until you get the shade of gray you want, then oil the blades.

madpoet
 
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