Processing bone for a knife handle

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Wes23

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Dec 26, 2017
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I just finished my first knife making project working from a Helle kit with all materials provided, except I had to buy a double shoulder of leather because i carved the handle bigger than the kit provided for. (https://wesshepherd.wordpress.com/2018/12/30/viking-knife-build-part-3-finale/)

This one I'm keeping for myself. The next one is starting off with just a Mora blade I bought in Iceland last year, but I'm sourcing the handle materials. I have a piece of seasoned oak from my tree out back, and I have the brass for the guard, but I need a piece of bone for the butt.

My question is, do I source a bone supplier or can I process cow bone at home. If the latter, how do I go about taking cow bone and turning it into something stable to use as a component of the knife handle.

Thanks in advance.
 
You can buy a single piece of camel bone from Culpeper for $6. Hardly seems worthwhile to process your own. Be ideal for your endcap use.
 
You can do it yourself, but it takes all damn day

don't boil it, that's for soup - puts grease into the bone that will stop glue from sticking.

Let it rot, spend all day stripping off the membranes and connective tissue with pliers then boil with soap - TSP was usually recommended
For the sake of the environment, they have removed the phosphates from TSP and replaced it with chlorine - (which breaks down the bone into chalky fine powder)



If I had to try it again I'd get some flesh eating beetles and lye
but somebody is already doing this commercially in india or some other labour cheap country - so no need to do all that work.
 
12345678910 said:
You can do it yourself, but it takes all damn day

don't boil it, that's for soup - puts grease into the bone that will stop glue from sticking.

Let it rot, spend all day stripping off the membranes and connective tissue with pliers then boil with soap - TSP was usually recommended
For the sake of the environment, they have removed the phosphates from TSP and replaced it with chlorine - (which breaks down the bone into chalky fine powder)



If I had to try it again I'd get some flesh eating beetles and lye
but somebody is already doing this commercially in india or some other labour cheap country - so no need to do all that work.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I happen to have some TSP in my workshop that's been sitting there for 24 years...probably the real stuff. I might give it a shot just for fun.
 
Probably not the real stuff. I tried that about the same time frame.

Just try dawn dish soap instead of the tsp
 
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