Title: bone-msg
Subject: Working with bone and antler.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: bone, antler, medieval, craft, carving, combs, buttons

bone-msg - 10/26/01

Working with bone and antler. Cleaning bones. Whitening bones. Sources of bone and antler.

NOTE: See also the files: horn-msg, Horn-Spoons-art, glues-msg, leather-msg, 
lea-tanning-msg, leather-bib, leather2-bib.

************************************************************************
NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make  no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given  by the individual authors.

Please  respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  these messages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear  at this time. If  information  is  published  from  these  messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: malmberg at badlands.NoDak.edu (Kenric D Malmberg)
Subject: Re: working skeletal materials
Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 20:22:34 GMT
Organization: North Dakota Higher Education Computing Network

Good gentles,
Nahum asks:
: have folks had a bad problem of shrinkage? [in bones/antlers]
: how to deal with this?

: I had made a thumb ring (middleeastern archery device) from antler and
: it worked great...
: for awhile...
: then it started bothering - I had first thought that this was because
: of my thumb swelling (after shooting alot)
: but last time I was about to use it, the thing did not fit at all.

: I could continue sanding - but eventually I'll be left with no ring.
: So,
: is it gonna stop shrinking?
: when I make a new one, how much shrinking do I need to account for?
: any other advice?

Well, I hate to have to use modern references, but the Boone and 
Crockett rule on measurement of skulls is that the skull has had to 
dry for at least a year before measurement.  Thus a year of drying 
_before_ making the item is a good idea.  Secondly, remember that bone 
is a porous substance.  Sealing it after shaping it should slow or 
stop the shrinkage.  Hope this helps.

In service,
Kenric Bjarnarson

From: "Falcone al Rasool ibn Muhajir" <polearmed at worldnet.att.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: working with bone
Date: 12 Feb 1997 15:38:11 GMT
Organization: Elvegast.Windmasters' Hill.Atlantia

Allah's Peace unto you!!

Scott G. Hofer <simplex at pipeline.com> wrote:
> I'm looking for information on working with bone. In specific, I have
> two racks of deer antlers that I'd like to make into buttons and
> needles. If anyone has any advice or can point me towards some good
> sources I'd be be very grateful.

Konrad:

I suggest you use a little know Xacto tool.  It is a small coping saw, for
which Xacto sells tiny little saw blades.  The blades are like 6 inches
long and very thin.  Saw the buttons by hand(you should always use a
comfort mask AT LEAST, if not a chemical respirator when dealing with any
bone or horn) with this little saw and the polishing work is reduced.

For needles, I think you should maximize your time by making blocks with
the needle profile shape, then sawing length-wise.  You will want some
precision files on hand for the eye, etc.  If you shave these off of the
block, you maight add a little bit of a curve to it.  At that point, it
will be a weak needle.

Good luck.
Falcone
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Donald Wagner                            Falcone al Rasool ibn Muhajir
Raleigh, NC                              Barony of Windmasters' Hill
Lead Technical Instructor - WorldNet     Kingdom of Atlantia
<dswagner at attmail.com>                   <polearmed at worldnet.att.net>
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: afn03234 at freenet3.afn.org (Ronald L. Charlotte)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: working with bone
Date: 15 Feb 1997 12:47:28 GMT

simplex at pipeline.com (Scott G. Hofer) wrote:
> I'm looking for information on working with bone. In specific, I have
> two racks of deer antlers that I'd like to make into buttons and
> needles. If anyone has any advice or can point me towards some good
> sources I'd be be very grateful.

_The_ book to get your hands on is _Bone, Antler, Ivory & Horn_ by 
Arthur MacGregor (ISBN 0 389 20531 1).  It has more information on 
historical (from the Roman era forward) skeletal material work than any 
three other books.

Just as a point of fact, with no insult intended, antler is _not_ bone.  
It doesn't behave the same or work the same.  You can count on getting 
your buttons from the antler, but as needles, antler will be short-lived 
at best.
--
     al Thaalibi ---- An Crosaire, Trimaris
     Ron Charlotte -- Gainesville, FL
     afn03234 at afn.org

From: afn03234 at freenet2.afn.org (Ronald L. Charlotte)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: working with bone
Date: 18 Feb 1997 11:50:12 GMT

"Charlotte A. Gilmour" <rgbailey at aiinc.com> wrote:

> I have a question...would antlers be okay for making combs?  If not what
> would be your suggestion?  BTW (not being the original poster) this has
> been very interesting!

Now _combs_, that was something antler was used for, a lot.  They are 
one of the most common skeletal material artifacts around.  Red deer 
antler was very common for combs.  A few were one-piece, but the 
majority done in antler were "composite" combs built up out of smaller 
pieces.  There are a few rare examples with antler teeth and bone side 
plates.

For combmaking, the only skeletal material that might be superior to 
antler is horn, and that's a subject for debate.
--
     al Thaalibi ---- An Crosaire, Trimaris
     Ron Charlotte -- Gainesville, FL
     afn03234 at afn.org

From: skwid at utdallas.edu (Evan P Langlinais)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: working with bone
Date: 25 Feb 1997 17:01:10 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Dallas

For some nifty diagrams of combs in various stages of construction, check
out JP Heather's "Goths in the 4th Century."  Nice little book he
co-authored with Matthews.
--
|   |   |\ | | | ) Theudegisklos "Skwid" Sweinbrothar of the order Teuthoidia
|/| |\  |/ | |X| ( SKWID, Vulture V4 pilot
  | | | |  | | | ) Evan "Skwid" Langlinais 

From: "Charlotte A. Gilmour" <rgbailey at aiinc.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bones
Date: 10 Mar 97 18:56:09 GMT
Organization: Gilmour

covert <covert at Capital.Net> wrote:
> Seeking information on the drying, and preperation of small bones for
> theatrical costume bits.

Boil the meat from the bones (roasting burns/causes crumbling). Scrape the
bone with a knife until clean, you can use scewers or nutpicks to hollow
out the bone, then boil or soak (I think soaking is better) in bleach or
lemon juice, use a fine tooth saw to cut through the bone, use a drill for
holes etc. (be careful when you apply pressure though, you'll get the feel
of it).

Hope this helps :) and have fun!

Most Sincerely,
Tearlag Anna Ghille Mhuire

From: pts21 at aol.com (PTS21)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bones
Date: 17 Mar 1997 06:59:38 GMT

I was doing some jewelry a few years ago , when a friend gave me a couple
of mouse skulls to make into earings.  He told me he got the (already
dead, frozen ) mouse from a pet store where they were sold as snake? food.
 To remove the mice from around the skulls, he soaked them in bleach until
the mouse bits went away and only the bones remained.  I don't know if he
had to do any kind of scraping--I wasn't involved in it until the skulls
were already clean and dry.  I do remember him telling me that he had to
try several times before getting it right because if you soak it too long,
the bones go away too.  I imagine he also needed to rinse hem thoroughly
and let them dry.  You might have better luck with some of the reaaly
excellent plastic repros that are on the market now.good luck    

From: {Rmv-to-reply!}anaximander at geocities.com (Mike Huber)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bones
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 1997 16:22:55 GMT

Friznitx rec.org.sca ak 9 Mar 1997 13:42:16 GMT farblik
covert at Capital.Net (covert)}

> Seeking information on the drying, and preperation of small bones for
> thaetrical costume bits.

I've read that placing them on an ant hill is a good way to get them
clean.
---
Anaximander of Xidon
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2111
mail: anaximander at geocities.com

From: neuro at nmia.com (Karen L Schumacher)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bones
Date: 18 Mar 1997 17:22:55 GMT
Organization: New Mexico Internet Access

In my bio class in high school, we took the remains of the dearly departed
and placed them on anthills. Within a couple of weeks, we had full
skeletons, devoid of material. Then, to disinfect, we placed them in
bleach, which also changed the bone color from that weird yellow to white.
neuro at nmia.com

From: hrjones at uclink.berkeley.edu (Heather Rose Jones)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bones
Date: 19 Mar 1997 00:31:57 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

Karen L Schumacher (neuro at nmia.com) wrote:
: In my bio class in high school, we took the remains of the dearly departed
: and placed them on anthills. Within a couple of weeks, we had full
: skeletons, devoid of material. Then, to disinfect, we placed them in
: bleach, which also changed the bone color from that weird yellow to white.

I haven't seen the original message yet, so I don't know if there is more
to the question than the above. The technique will vary to some extent
depending on the nature of the bones (e.g. limb bones versus skulls) and
your available facilities. Professional skeletal-preparation facilities
generally use flesh-eating insects (there's a particular type of beetle
that works well) for the most efficient method. This is particularly
useful is the creature is fairly small and delicate, or for bones with
awkward crevices and cavities (e.g. skulls). However, few amateurs have
the continuous need sufficient to support a beetle colony. The anthill
method is likely to work nicely for a start, although I'd advise a slight
modification. If the flesh dries out too badly, the ants won't be able to
finish the work. I've had good luck with delicate pieces by putting them
in damp potting soil in a flower pot and _then_ placing them near the
ant-hill. Leave it undisturbed for 2-4 weeks before checking on the
progress. (Toss some garden soil into the mix and you'll get some good
bacterial action helping with the process, too.)

This sort of method works well when the animal is fairly small (e.g.
mouse, robin, etc.) or when you are able to partially de-flesh larger
items. If you are working with something significantly larger (e.g.,
squirrel, rabbit, etc.) -- especially if you simply want the larger bones
for decoration, rather than a full skeleton for a mount -- the method that
has worked best for me is to bury the animal in a fairly shallow pit lined
with aluminum foil (makes it easier to keep things in one place when
retrieving it) somewhere it won't get walked on (and _mark_ the spot
clearly) using good, biologically-active soil. Dig it up one to two months
later (depending on the size) and it should be reasonably well cleaned up,
although you'll still have some washing to do. Anything larger should be
de-fleshed as much as possible first.

Bleaching (in a weak bleach solution) is a good way to whiten and
de-grease the bones and eliminate any remaining odor -- but be very
careful not to over-bleach or the bones will crumble into a chalky powder.
(Guess how I found this out.) 24 hours in perhaps a 10% solution might be
a starting place for experimentation. 

Did I mention that I had some peculiar hobbies _before_ I joined the SCA?

Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn
(no skeletons in _my_ closet -- they're all out on display)

From: hrjones at uclink.berkeley.edu (Heather Rose Jones)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bones
Date: 31 Mar 1997 18:21:07 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

Wilson Heydt (whheydt at slip.net) wrote:
: hrjones at uclink.berkeley.edu (Heather Rose Jones) wrote:

: >Bleaching (in a weak bleach solution) is a good way to whiten and
: >de-grease the bones and eliminate any remaining odor -- but be very
: >careful not to over-bleach or the bones will crumble into a chalky powder.
: >(Guess how I found this out.) 24 hours in perhaps a 10% solution might be
: >a starting place for experimentation. 

: Since standard household bleach is a 5.25% solution of sodium hypochlorite,
: should I presume that, by "10% solution", you mean cutting the bleach 10:1,
: making it an 0.525% solution?

Since I was talking to a non-technical audience, I assumed that "10%
solution of bleach" would be interpreted as "buy commercial bleach; cut it
1:10". If I had _meant_ "10% solution of sodium hypochlorite" I would have
used the chemical name.

Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn

From: Charles L Knutson <knutsonc at freenet.msp.mn.us>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bones
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 13:30:49 -0600

  The quickest is just to boil 'em. But it's also not a recommended 
indoor activity, I obtained some knucklebones from sheep and deer that 
way for gaming purposes. I borrowed an old Coleman camp stove and did it 
out in the garage. Then I bleached them lightly as the others have 
suggested. Depending on how much disecting you do first, it can take 
several hours to loosen all the tendons and ligments, but it can be 
quicker than waiting for the bugs and other wee beasties to do their work, 
and also insures none of the local dogs get to them first.

From: BlackCat <blackcat at blueneptune.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: More on bones!!
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 21:58:50 -0800

Yes, the methods perscribed by Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvyrn were
good ans sound, yet I have a couple of tidbits to add: hydrogen peroxide
works to whiten bone nicely without breaking it down like bleach
(although I admit bleach is quicker and easier). It always seems that
bleached bones eventually fall apart (at least in my experience). Also,
a set of dental tools is handy for cleaning out cavities in the scull.

Happy Hunting!
Lady Kelly Wynne Morrison of Dun Eistein

From: mjbr at tdk.dk (Michael Bradford)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bones
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 11:24:33 GMT
Organization: Tele Denmark

hrjones at uclink.berkeley.edu (Heather Rose Jones) wrote:

>snip

>Bleaching (in a weak bleach solution) is a good way to whiten and
>de-grease the bones and eliminate any remaining odor -- but be very
>careful not to over-bleach or the bones will crumble into a chalky powder.
>(Guess how I found this out.) 24 hours in perhaps a 10% solution might be
>a starting place for experimentation. 

>snip

A good way of whitening/degreasing bone is boiling in soap solution.
Use a normal clothes washing powder.

Michael Bradford
Viking Group Wunjo
Denmark
mjbr at tdk.dk

From: jhrisoulas at aol.com
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bones
Date: 21 Mar 1997 03:12:48 GMT

In article <5gr6ik$2s6 at gatekeeeper.teledanmark.dk>, mjbr at tdk.dk (Michael Bradford) writes:

>A good way of whitening/degreasing bone is boiling in soap solution.
>Use a normal clothes washing powder.

As someone who has processed over half a ton of "bovine ivory" (aka beef bones) for use as sword/knife grips...I suggest that you start out by placing the pieces on an ant hill....You will be amazed at how clean these little guys get a piece of bone..

Next boil the pieces in either chlorine bleach  (the easiest of the two) solution of 5% by volume for 1/2 hour followed by a fresh water rinse..OR you can use sodium hydroxide (lye) solution of 2.5% by volume...I use the lye as it does a better job of getting that nice "bone" colour... rionse in fresh water and let dry..

What you end up with is a nice bone coloured bone..

Usually I place the resulting bone under a vacuum either plain or in an annaline dye solution for various colours.. The black/blues are very attractive and this worked very well when stabilized under vacuum with a cyanoacrylate....(this is sorta like industrial "super glue"..but far more nastier.....)... This results in a sealed surface that is more or less impervious to heat, sun, water...whatever and will take a polish like glass...  I would go into further detail but I hold a patent on this process.

Actually the cleaning process is described in detail in my second book...The stabilization/colouration processes aren't..sorry....  I am not one to keep things secret, but in this case I am.......

Atar, Baron Bakhtar, OL
aka
JP Hrisoulas,
Las Vegas, NV

Date: Sun, 06 Jul 1997 12:28:02 -0500
From: Gunnora Hallakarva <gunnora at bga.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Antler Availability

The best way to get palmate antlers such as moose, red deer, fallow deek,
elk, etc.  is to contact your local exotic game ranches.  There are three
types: one is a zoo-like deal where tourists are allowed to drive through
and view the wildlife; the next is an animal sanctuary or preserve which
does not allow tourists, and the third is a commercial ranching venture.

We're fortunate in Texas to have a number of the commercial exotic game
ranches available.  Some of them offer hunters an opportunity to hunt game
animals, others ranch them just like cattle for meat and hides.  Both
varieties will usually sell you naturally shed antlers.

Also, don't neglect the taxidermy shops and game meat lockers in your
vicinity and in surrounding small towns.  It is quite common for folks to
drop off their kill and then later realize they don't have the money to
reclaim their trophy.  Often you can get quite a bargain on horn and
antler.  Also, if the antlers are damaged, a hunter may choose not to keep
them, but if you are making stuff from them, broken antlers are great, and
these sometimes can be obtained for free.

The same principle, by the way, applies to sewing machines:  never buy a
new sewing machine.  Call around yoru local sewing machine repair shops and
ask if they have any repaired machines to sell...  again, many people will
drop their machines off for repairs, then find they can't afford to get
them back and so abandon them.

Gunnora Hallakarva

From: powers at woodstock.cis.ohio-state.edu (william thomas powers)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Bone sewing kit, who can help?
Date: 22 Aug 1997 10:54:11 -0400
Organization: The Ohio State University, Department of Computer and Information Science

>I recently decided I wanted my whole take-to-events-sewing-kit as period
>as I can get it. I decided I needed a box made out of bone to keep my
>needles in. I'm still looking for information on boneworking, both
>mundane and period, and I was wondering if anyone has come across what
>an actual period sewing kit consisted of? I'm thinking 12th century, but
>information about any time period is welcome.
>Gerbrich de Fries

Gracious Gerbrich; I would suggest reading through "Divers Arts" by
Theophilus for some suggestions on 12th century bone working.  Remembering
that, like period cookbooks, some things get left out. (an example:
the polishing with sifted wood ashes and a woolen cloth. You get
a nasty mess if the bone is oily and the ashes dry; but if you add
water--not mentioned by Theophilus-- and use the cloth to "shoe-shine"
the bone you can get a polish that will have people accusing you of having
buffed it with modern equipment.)

Working bone is quite easy it can be carved, sanded, buffed, filed, sawn
drilled, turned on a lathe. 

Many wood and metalworking tools can be used. (sawing: coping saw
or hacksaw; drilling: regular twist drillbits; filing: regular files--not
in the finest cuts as they tend to clog; sanding: regular sand paper)

Many small carving tools can be easily and cheaply made from masonary 
nails.  Bones can be obtained at a butcher, slaughterhouse, roadside cheaply.
Cleaning them is easy too.

Some people use a dremel with various burrs to carve. (I don't like it).  
If you are grinding, sanding or turning: DANGER do *NOT* breath bone dust.  
Use a dust mask and a dust collection system---vacuume cleaner/outside 
with a breeze.

If you get any good documentation; please post it--I'm always ready
to add another project to the massive backlog!

wilelm the smith

Date: Wed, 03 Sep 1997 23:44:32 -0500
From: "J. Drew Ragsdale" <jragsdal at sprynet.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Need source(s) for Antler

>I'm looking for sources of Red Deer, Elk or other large antlers.  I
>desire such for making reproductions of Viking implements, in
>particular, combs.  Any supplier information will be greatly
>appreciated.

>Gawain Kilgore

You might also try "Dixie Gunworks". They are in Tenessee and cater primarily to the buckskinner crowd. Since antler was a heavily used item for the buckskinners, they used to carry it and may still. You can probably get their mail-order catalog (about $5) at most gun-type stores. 

Salvadore DelRossa

Date: Thu, 4 Sep 1997 10:13:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: Griff41520 at aol.com
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re:Antler vs Horn    was: Need source(s) for Antler

<< 
 This is fascinating!  No native deer in Lochac!  Do you do anything special
 with the fluffy stuff on the  hard horn? (sorry, I have *no* idea of the
 technical terms!) <<

     Fluffy stuff?  Quick note on Antlers vs Horns.  Antlers are an extension
of bones. Male deer (stags) and other antlered critters grow and shed antlers
on a regular basis.  They grow out of a special spot on the stags head and
are nourished by an thin coating that the stag eventually scratches off ( we
call it velvet)  The antlers are very sensitive in this stage. 
      Antlers are not hollow like cattle/sheep horns are.  They are solid,
like bone.  Is a stags velvet what you were thinking of as fluffy stuff?

Ivy~

Date: Thu, 04 Sep 1997 11:20:09 -0500
From: Gunnora Hallakarva <gunnora at bga.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Sources of Antler

I get my antler from exotic game ranches.  Texas has many of these and I
will guarantee that other Western states will as well.  Sometimes they will
let you have shed antlers, other times they make them available for sale.

Also check out the meat lockers and venison processing plants near you.
Hunters who bag deer with broken antlers often don't keep them, and for our
purposes the broken ones are fine.  Even the tiniest peices can become
sewing needles and Thor's Hammers. You can also get deer shinbones from the
meat processors as the lower leg is garbage... and that's what I use for
making bone needlecases.

The last place to check is with the local taxidermist.  Often they have
broken antlers, and simple racks that no one ever paid for, etc.  Sometimes
they have a barrel filled with antlers you can pick up for $5 a half-rack.

Gunnora Hallakarva
Herskerinde

Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 07:20:43 -0500 (CDT)
From: Lorine S Horvath <lhorvath at plains.NoDak.edu>
Cc: SCA-ARTS at UKANS.EDU
Subject: Re: Bone "chips" [SCA]

Tarrach here. I seem to remember in the MacGregor book a mention of
cutting disks out of flat bones such as shoulder blades and jaws for this
use.  These were cut out using a saw drills not unlike the modern ones
used to drill/saw holes >1" and which should be avalable at any hardware
store.

Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 18:19:53 PDT
From: "Joseph Tolbert" <jlt6 at hotmail.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: bone disks

>use.  These were cut out using a saw drills not unlike the modern ones
>used to drill/saw holes >1" and which should be avalable at any hardware
>store.
>
>Trouble is you're stuck with a hole in the middle then, I've read
snip

If you use a drill press, you can take the drill out of the center
of the holw saw (its purpose is to guide the saw) - if you don't have
a drill press handy ,take a piece of board ,make a hole in it with
the hole saw (drill bit in place) clamp the board to the bone etc.
REMOVE THE DRILL BIT, cut out your disk (the hole in the board will
guide the saw) - - - just a thought if you boil the bone it will
soften MAYBE enough that you could use a piece of tubing or
electrical conduit with a sharpened end to cut out disk like a
cookie cutter (it does harden again as it dries)

Joseph L. Tolbert,Jr              jlt6 at hotmail.com

From: "Kevin Walmsley" <kd_walmsley at geocities.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Sawing Bone? [SCA]
Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 19:15:18 -0500
Organization: Michigan State University

>Some questions:
>
>(1) How do I brace the bones to cut them?
>
>(2) What sort of equipment do I use? I don't have access to a "shop"
>of tools, but, I do have access to a Dremel-Moto tool if there is some
>sort of "saw" bit I could use.
>
>(3) What sort of safety considerations (besides bone flying into my
>eyes) do I have to be concerned about?
>
>(4) What can I use to clean the marrow out of the center of the
>roundels? The marrow space in lamb shanks is actually rather small,
>but, I don't want my roundels to smell!
>
>(5) What sort of knife or chisel do I need to make simple groove
>markings on the surface of the bone (again, a Dremel bit suggestion
>would be appreciated!)

A few ideas:

1.  A mitre box with shims to support the irregular portions of the bone
(taper, warps, etc...).

2.  A hack saw does fine, a band saw is much faster.  You could also invert
a saber saw and fasten it under a board with the blade sticking up through
the board.  Essentially making a stationary power tool out of a portable
one.

3.  Your significant other may not appreciate the smell of burnt bone caused
by dull tools.  Making him or her angry can be very hazardous to your
health.  Bone from European animals may have unique health concerns that I
don't know about.

4.  Dry marrow is easily reamed out with a drill bit or can be gouged out by
hand.

5.  Any thing from a sharp pocket knife to professional engraver's tools.
One local scrimshaw artist uses a pattern maker's scratch awl.

From: ronch at gator.net (Ron Charlotte)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Sawing Bone? [SCA]
Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 02:04:58 GMT

On Sat, 16 May 1998 14:27:28 GMT, goldmoon at geocities.com (Gwen Morse)
wrote:

>I'm interested in being able to cut up the long bones (leg bones) of
>lambs. I have a source for the bones, I'm just not sure how to saw or
>cut them.
>
>Will anyone out there who works bone be willing to provide some advice
>for me? I want to cut the shank bones into thin "roundels" (best
>described as coin-shaped).
>
>Some questions:
>
>(1) How do I brace the bones to cut them?
If you are just wishing to cut across the thickness of the bone, a
vise (woodworker's or ordinary bench vise with leather glued to the
jaws will do nicely.  For other cutting and handwork, a "vee" block is
a nice item to have (they are frequently described in most basic
jewelry craft books).
>
>(2) What sort of equipment do I use? I don't have access to a "shop"
>of tools, but, I do have access to a Dremel-Moto tool if there is some
>sort of "saw" bit I could use.

Any fairly fine toothed saw will do the trick for hand tools.  The
best for a beginner is an ordinary woodworkers coping saw.  The blades
are dirt cheap and come in a variety of tooth counts.  I frequently
use the saw blades sold for use in x-acto tool handles.  For more
intricate work, a real jeweler's saw is essential.  For rough cuts, a
hack saw will work nicely.  

Basically, think of bone as behaving like a hard, but brittle wood.
and choose tools appropriately.

>(3) What sort of safety considerations (besides bone flying into my
>eyes) do I have to be concerned about?
The fine dust from sanding and filing is not a good thing to breath,
especially if you want to make a habit of working the stuff.  A
disposable mask is better than nothing, a real filter mask is better.

>(4) What can I use to clean the marrow out of the center of the
>roundels? The marrow space in lamb shanks is actually rather small,
>but, I don't want my roundels to smell!

I use a (sort of) tame fire ant mound.  Otherwise, hairdresser grade
hydrogen peroxide will help get rid of the organic marrow, and whiten
the bone (sheep bone is kind of high in fat content, and ages yellow
unless some of the fat is removed from the surface layers.

>(5) What sort of knife or chisel do I need to make simple groove
>markings on the surface of the bone (again, a Dremel bit suggestion
>would be appreciated!)?

Any thing that will cut wood will work.  For rotary tools, the bits
that I use most often are the round burs, the cones, and a couple of
the rasp shapes.

>Recomendations of books that cover actual bone-working ("Bone, Antler,
>Ivory and Horn" by MacGregor didn't) would also be appreciated.

There is some info on the subject in there, but one has to be familiar
with the basics before any of it makes sense.  If you can find it,
_Working in Plastic, Bone, Amber, and Horn_ by Erland Borglund and
Jacob Flauensgaard is a _very_ good basic technique primer.  Late last
year, the magazine _Lapidary Journal_ had a couple of articles on
beginning to work in skeletal materials.
--
  al Thaalibi ---- An Crosaire, Trimaris
  Ron Charlotte -- Gainesville, FL

Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 15:51:33 -0500
From: "I. Marc Carlson" <LIB_IMC at centum.utulsa.edu>
Subject: re: Sawing Bone [SCA]
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

<goldmoon at geocities.com (Gwen Morse)>
>I'm interested in being able to cut up the long bones (leg bones)
>of lambs.
 
I see that you've gotten a number of responses, and so I would like
to point out that I'm not contradicting any of that (with one
exception - if you wind up breathing in some of the dust, don't
panic, it won't kill you.  Breathing in a LOT of the dust is very
bad for you, yes, just as breathing in large or regular amounts of
anything is bad for you.  Don't be surprised, however, if inhaling
the dust doesn't aggravate any sinus conditions have or, or cause
a sinus infection).  A simple face mask should take care of that).

>I have a source for the bones, I'm just not sure how to saw or
>cut them.

Slowly.

>(1) How do I brace the bones to cut them?

Either with your hand, or clamped to a table.  You might wrap the
area to be clamped in leather, to give it a better grip.
 
>(2) What sort of equipment do I use? I don't have access to a
>"shop" of tools, but, I do have access to a Dremel-Moto tool if
>there is some sort of "saw" bit I could use.

Oddly there is, but the really good saw isn't sold by Dremmel.  I
bought mine at a Gun and Knife show from an anonymous salesperson. 
I don't have any idea how well the Dremel fiberglass cutting wheels
will work, but they ought to work.  A table saw might work best,
but since you don't have access to that, I would go back to the
suggestion of a coping saw.  A coping saw is what I use anyway.
If you are *really* eager, the MacGregor has a drawing of the ideal
tool in it, the saw with two blades, but you'd have to make one of
those from scratch.  The Exactoknife "raxor-saw" cuts bone BEST,
but it's a major pain (I think) to work with.
 
Note that working with bone has some aesthetic drawbacks.  The
first is that it stinks.  The smell is (logically) akin to that
found in a dentist's office when teeth are being drilled. The power
tools make it worse.  You WILL get used to the smell, but it can
take some time.  If you soak the bone in water for several days,
and then boil it (as discussed in MacGregor), it will soften the
bone to a point that it's just like cutting a hard wood.  The smell
however will change to something reminiscent of cutting up a
cadaver (without the formaldehyde to break up the stench).
 
>(3) What sort of safety considerations (besides bone flying into
>my eyes) do I have to be concerned about?
 
The dust is probably paramount (I don't have a lot of bone chips
flying around, personally).  Other than that, wear gloves, since
bone is hard enough that your saw can be all ov can be all over the
place.
 
>(4) What can I use to clean the marrow out of the center of the
>roundels? The marrow space in lamb shanks is actually rather
>small, but, I don't want my roundels to smell!

The last time I did this (which my wife tells me is the LAST time
I will do this) I cut off the ends of the bone, and with a long
stick scraped out the marrow crap.  You know the description of the
nasty smells I've given so far?  This stuff CAN be worse depending
on how old the bone is.  Once that is done, wash it in hot water
(dish washer/bottle brush/whatever).  THEN cut your disks.

>(5) What sort of knife or chisel do I need to make simple groove
>markings on the surface of the bone (again, a Dremel bit
>suggestion would be appreciated!)?

The Dremel will work, but I really think you'll get a more
satisfactory result if you use a small metal rod, like a flat ended
awl, and just do it by hand.

Just don't fool yourself.  Working in bone takes hard work and
time.  There are very few "easy" ways to get things done.  It can
be a great way to meditate, since if you rush it, you are far more
likely to screw it up.

>Recomendations of books that cover actual bone-working ("Bone,
>Antler, Ivory and Horn" by MacGregor didn't) would also be
>appreciated.

Oh, he does.  He just doesn't present a "how to".

Ok, books.

Borglund, Erland, 1894- and Jacob Flauensgaard. Working in plastic,
     bone, amber, and horn. [Ed. Clara Fried Zwiebel] New      
     York: Reinhold Book Corp., [1968]
D'Amato, Janet. Who's a horn? What's an antler? : crafts of bone
     and horn. New York : J. Messner, c1982. OCLC: 8221773
Horn & bone craft. Brookings, S.D.?: Cooperative Extension
     Service, 19??. OCLC: 10417115
Myhre, Stephen. Bone carving : a skillbase of techniques and
     concepts. Auckland : Heinemann Reed, 1987 (1989 printing)
     OCLC: 22178375
Ritchie, Carson I. A. Bone and horn carving : a pictorial history.
     South Brunswick : A. S. Barnes, [1975] OCLC: 1119324

Several other "craft" encyclopedias discuss bone working under
"scrimshaw".

Marc/Diarmaid O'Duinn
lib_imc at centum.utulsa.edu

From: goldmoon at geocities.com (Gwen Morse)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Sawing Bone? [SCA]
Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 13:20:43 GMT

I wanted to thank everyone who responded to my post! You all were most
helpful. I just have to head to the hardware store to get the saw and
assorted odds and ends (mask, clamps, etc) I need.

One comment, to explain. "Bone, Antler, Ivory, and Horn" by A.
MacGregor does give ALOT of information about the various materials in
the titles, including lovely illustrations of a wide range of products
produced in period. However, there is no chapter on "How to work bone
in modern times", which is what I was hoping for. It is a GREAT
reference if you want to know what the finished products should look
like, though.

Gwen
--
Eachna ingen Gan Aimn - 5th century Irish Celt
Probationary member of the New York Tuatha de Bhriain
http://www.hatrack.net/gwen/celtic/index.html
Gwen Morse || mailto:goldmoon at geocities.com

Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 15:53:42 -0600
From: "Teri C. Kennedy" <aquarian at infomagic.com>
To: <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Re: looking for deer antlers [SCA]

Actually, since I was loading the truck anyway, .... I took out the box with
the deer antlers.  My source cuts the tips off for his purposes, but what I
have are still great for making buttons, handles for knives, forks, spoons, etc.

I sell them for $1.00 per ounce, and I currently have pieces that range from
1/2  to  5 ounces.  5 oz. doesn't sound like much, but it's a piece about 7
- 8 inches long.  I can get larger pieces.  My source is pretty reliable, so
I can fill orders at any time ('cept when I'm at events).  The info I need
from you is:  Approx. total number of ounces you want, *and* whether you
prefer longer pieces (for knife handles), or whether a combination including
short pieces is OK (for buttons).

I do have a few pieces *with* their pointed tips, and these cost $2.00 per oz.

Then, add the cost for a Box & Postage:
Up to 2 lb. (32 oz.) = $4.00
For each additional pound, add $1.00

Orders need to be pre-paid, and checks or M.O. made to:  Aquarian Arts Studio

Leg & rib bones are a little harder to come by.  Let me know if you
specifically want these & I'll see what I can find.  The elk skull I found
already had the horns chewed off by some hungry critter, but is available
for $95.00 including postage.

Now a word about safety:  You can use any hand or power tool to cut bone.
HOWEVER, dry bone *and* shell and horn, when cut, sanded, or drilled puts
out a fine dust WHICH YOU DO NOT WANT IN YOUR LUNGS!!!  Bone & shell dust
cuts lung tissue, so wear a dust mask, and preferably also work in a well
ventilated area (a room with an exhaust fan, or outdoors).

Lady Morgan the Celt
________________________________________________________________
Lady Morgan the Celt de Artemis, MoAS, CFS, CMS (Teri Kennedy, B.F.A.) 
Aquarian Arts Studio, 2998 W.Wilson Dr., Flagstaff, AZ  86001,
Voice: 520-779-1291, FAX:  520-779-3713,   e-mail:  aquarian at infomagic.com,
Web Site:  www.infomagic.com/~aquarian/

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 09:25:46 -0400
From: rmhowe <magnusm at ncsu.edu>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Flint Knapping

While it isn't European, I imagine that the techniques were very
similar. There is a particularly fine book on:

Stone, Bone, Antler and Shell   Artifacts of the Northwest Coast
by Hilary Stewart
ISBN ISBN 0-295-97536-9 in US., $29.95 US
ISBN 1-55054-475-6 in Canada, $35 Canadian.
Copyright 1973, 1981, 1996.
Published in the USA by University of Washington Press, PO Box 50096,
Seattle, Washington 98145-5096
Published in Canada by Douglas and McIntyre, Vancouver/
Toronto. New revised editions.
140 pages.  Hardback.

(Companion works on Cedar and Indian Fishing.)

The styles and making of a very wide range of tools and decorative
ornaments are well illustrated. Hundreds of photographs and drawings.
Everything from arrowheads and azdes / axes to needles and awls to
fishing implements and specialized spears.

Illustrates very basic knapping techniques but goes on to illustrate
sawing with abrasive stones, polishing, drilling with stones, many
varieties of tools and how they were used. Cutting and working animal
and natural products, especially wood.

I have Cedar and Stone, Bone, Antler and Shell. The techniques and
illustrations in them overlap somewhat.

Cedar is 192 pages. ISBN 0-295-97448-6 in the U.S. $22.95
ISBN 1-55054-406-3 $22.95 in Canada. paperback. Very extensive on
woodworking techniques.

Magnus

Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 21:54:33 EST
From: <Gingen3 at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Deer ribs [SCA]

a little clorox in water, soak, and voila' !! clean bones.
Lady Geva

Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 01:27:24 -0400
From: "Maggie Allen" <maggiea at empireone.net>
To: <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Re: Need a Bear tooth/bleach

>Actually, just boiling the tooth should be enough.  Chlorine bleach
>will make it very white, but will also weaken the tooth.  Same story
>with bones.
>Jack C. Thompson
>Thompson Conservation Laboratory

    I've gotta agree with this one. A fellow once traded me a bear skull
from a beast obtained by "fender-Remington". Rather than white-wash it, he
chose to use Clorox on it. Whiten it & sterilize it in one step, I guess. He
& I were both apalled when it disolved completely. Even the teeth went to
heck, almost before our eyes. Don't use bleach!

Yvan Wolvesbane of Norseland

Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 08:45:54 -0500
From: rmhowe <MMagnusM at bellsouth.net>
To: medieval-leather at egroups.com
Subject: Re: [medieval-leather] Cleaning bones?

Most of the Eastern Deer are too small to do much with their
antlers here. As to bones I've discovered fine, huge, cleaned or
flavored beef bones at the local PetSmart. They even drill a
3/8" hole in one end and must insert a powerwasher cause they're
clean inside as well. About $6 for a huge bone. I've got four
fine ones set back for some winchester spoon / viking spoon
duplicates.

Antler I've cut and carved by hand pretty much as it was.
Have a bit of moose antler I'm gonna try to make a tape loom out of
and maybe a comb or two. Got some buffalo shoulder blades for the
tape loom originally. All it takes is slots with hole between them
in the remaining bone to make a tape loom, then just up and down
backstrap style. Holes are in center of piece. Slots extend nearly
full height. Have to sand the edges carefully because of the
calcareous tissue.

Collis, John: Early Medieval Bone Spoons from Winchester; 
	Antiq. Journal 59, 1979, pp.375-91.

Someone cited some New Zealand books last year I bought on bone 
carving and polishing - Very good techniques but very modern.

Myhre,S.:  Bone Carving, A Skillbase of Techniques and Concepts; 
	1987, Auckland, NZ, 116pp, 8vo, pb,  illusts.
	new zealand bone carving 

Timings,J.: Bone Carving, a New Zealand Guide to Tools,
	Techniques and Marketing; 1995, Christchurch, NZ, 64pp.,
        Card covers, illus., maori style.

Most of the medieval stuff is by MacGregor.
Bone, Antler, Ivory and Horn is the bible if you can get it.

Also he did one in the York Series.
A. MacGregor, A.J. Mainman and N.S.H. Rogers: Craft, Industry 
	and Everyday Life: Bone, Antler, Ivory and Horn from 
	Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York GBP22.50

And some of articles in journals on combs from various areas.

MacGregor, Arthur: Barred Combs of Frisian Type in England;
	 in Med. Arch. 19, 1975, pp. 195-8 with multi-sided 
	line drawings of six combs.

MacGregor, Arthur.: Bone Skates: A Review of the Evidence; 
	in Arch. Journal 133, 	1976. pp. 57-74 with illustrations 
	and plate IV. Large bibliography. 

Ambrosiani, Kristina. "Viking Age Combs, Combmaking, and 
	Combmakers in the Light of Finds  from Birka and Ribe." 
	Stockholm Studies in Archaeology 2. 1981. 

Lauwerier, Roel C.G.M.: Objects of Bone, Antler and Horn from the
Circular
	Fortress of Oost-Souberg, the Netherlands (A.D. 90-975); Medieval
	Archaeology 39, 1995, pp. 71-90 and plates IV-VII, with additional
	illustrations. Combs with ornamentation, needles, spindle whorls, 
	tridents, skates, bead and brooch, bibliography. 

 : Medeltidsstaden 30 - Broberg, Birgitta m.fl.,
	KERAMIK, KAMMAR OCH SKOR FRÅN 7 MEDELTIDA STÄDER.
	Fyndstudie. Illustr. Sth 1981. 166 pp. 
	(Ceramics, Combs and Shoes from 7 Medieval Excavations.)

There are quite a few others I have but I haven't entered them in
my bibliographic files yet. About a foot or so. This'll have to
do for now.

Magnus Malleus, OL, Atlantia, Great Dark Horde.

To: Norsefolk at egroups.com
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 15:12:15 -0700
From: "Bjørn Grimnirsson" <viking822 at in-tch.com>
Subject: Re: Bone needles

On this continent reindeer are called caribou.  You can occasionally
find caribou antlers offered by retailers.  A few places to try on the
web:
http://www.hideandfur.com/
http://www.antlersunlimited.com/
http://www.clawantlerhide.com/
http://www.antler-art.com/

Bjørn

Anita Gould wrote:
> I got my antler from Tom Scheib, leading reindeer breeder, lecturer,
> he looks like a
> young Santa, and Saami encampment reinactor.  His e-mail is
> tascheib at win.bright.net
> Hie reindeer Eli is the deer featured in many movies.
> Aurora
> 
> JE Anderson wrote:
> > Where did you get reindeer antler and do they ship???? Thanks
> > Eirika

Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2001 16:13:04 -0500
From: rmhowe <MMagnusM at bellsouth.net>
To: - Regia - US <list-regia-us at netword.com>
Subject: A few addtional sources for Bone, Ivory, and Antler working.

I got in a few additional sources just recently: 

Dalton, O.M.: The Clephane Horn, Archaeologia LXV, 1914, pp. 213-22 and 
	plate XXIV which depicts all four sides of this highly carved
	oliphant (elephant tusk blowing horn). Suspected to be Byzantine 
	ca. 10 C but predating 1204 (fourth Crusade by which it is 
	suspected to have come to the west). Depicts many figures in 
	various byzantine dress, Charioteers with four horse chariots, 
	five riders in a variety of hunting scenes including one either 
	doing horse acrobatics or taking a fall, many figures on foot with
	very short bare-legged tunics, looks like the tunics may come in
	around the body much like shorts. Various animals - lions, 
	griffons, hares, deer, dogs, horses. All four sides are photographed
	and there is an expanded drawing of the whole design.

Galloway, Patricia, and Mark Newcomer: "The Craft of Combmaking: An
	Experimental Enquiry";  Inst. Arch. 18, 1981, Depicts the whole
	process to make a double sided composite comb with modern tools 
	from antler, pp. 73-90 with photos and bibliography. Dot and 
	circle motif is cut into the comb plates with a double point 
	drill scribe. 

Grainger, Guy, and Martin Henig: "A Bone Casket and a Relief Plaque
	from Mound 3 at Sutton Hoo", Medieval Arhaeology 27, 1983.
	pp. 136-141. Remains are very small, compared in the article
	with the Heilbronn Casket (From Goessler 1932) scale 1/2.
	The Relief Plaque is a cameo and is not depicted.

Greep. Stephen: "Antler Roundel Pendants from Britain and the Northwestern
	Roman Provinces"; Britannia 25, 1994, pp. 79-97 and plates III and
	IV, with additional drawings and photos in the text. Material
	concentrates on Britain, Gaul and the Germanies, many of these 
	items have phallic representations. 

Nesbitt, Alexander, Esq., F.S.A.: "On a Box of Carved Ivory of the Sixth
	Century"; Reprint from The Archaeologia Vol XLIV, 1876. 
	London, J. B. Nichols and Sons. pp.1-10 with two plates 
	depicting two base-reliefs from the casket.
	Apparently Early Christian Byzantine.

Magnus Malleus, OL
Windmasters' Hill, Atlantia
Brotherhood of the Great Dark Horde
R.M. Howe, Raleigh, NC 2001.

May be forewarded to closed sca or re-enactor email lists, but not to 
open newsgroups, or the Rialto or SCA-Universitas list.

From: "Gerald T Ortman" <gto at iquest.net>
To: <stefan at texas.net>
Subject: Re: [Stellararts] A few notes on Bone, Antler, Ivory and Horn Carving:
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 12:13:26 -0500

For your information and files:  a resource for antler.  I have not yet
contacted this fellow and therefore have no idea about costs or how he
deals, but he placed a for sale note on Woodweb:

ANTLER FOR SALE:

Folks;
I am an elk rancher and have an assortment of antler available. This is a
very versatile product and makes excellent carvings, scrimshaw, turnings
(especially pens), etc. You name it.

I also have Deer, Elk, Moose & Reindeer antler in stock

For more info please contact by email at :

bullandbugle at hotmail.com

Sincerely;
John M Mullins
Bull & Bugle Ranch

From: redjack at mindspring.com (Richard Lewis)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: working with antler
Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2001 22:05:29 GMT

Unless it's a cup or a knife handle that will be dunked in water a
lot, you really don't need to seal it.  I always just use rouge
(polishing compound) when doing the finish polish and that little bit
of wax does the trick.  Of course, I've only ever used it for knife
handles and the occassional bead.

ral

Hjordis Olvirsdottir <julesong at usa.net> wrote:
>I'm in the midst of making something out of moose antler, and I got as
>far as having the shape and it all sanded smooth and pretty... and then
>realized that before I do much more decoration on it I should find out
>about sealing it.

>Looking on Stefan's Florilegium at
>http://www.florilegium.org/files/CRAFTS/bone-msg.html was somewhat
>helpful - they did refer to needing to seal the antler at some point. 
>However, I couldn't find any reference on how or what to seal it with.

>Any assistance would be appreciated!  Thanks!  :)

>--Hjordis

Subject: Re: Boneworking discussion
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 18:05:02 -0400
From: rmhowe <MMagnusM at bellsouth.net>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ku.edu,- Authenticity List <authenticity at yahoogroups.com>

John LaTorre wrote:
> Thanks for your long letter. It contained much to chew on as
> I begin to carve bone.

Some of my thickest, flattest pieces which I intend to do seals 
or buckles with actually were dog bones with something similar 
to tootsie roll in them which I pushed out and cleaned. Smelled
the same, just a bit more grainy. Sent it to Master Valdemar
for his dog along with the hip joint I cut the ball off of for
a future spindle whorl. If you like I'll save any future pushouts
for you but you pay postage. ;)

I'm working on enough to hopefully do a Compleat Anachronist.
(This will also depend on who is Editor at the time I think.)
So far I've done some spoons, dress pins and many needles.
Also carved / engraved antler, ivory, horn, wood, a variety
of metals, plastics, originally started out in linoleum blocks
34 years ago.
 
> > Actually I meant to say Pets Warehouse. PetSmart has bone
> > but it's not the whole bones, the ends are cut off. We have
> > both branches here near Raleigh/Cary (Raleigh's snooty suburb).
> 
> I found some at Petco (another megastore). They, too, had
> the ends cut off, but the pieces were big enough for what I
> had in mind.

It really helps when you can see the end of the bone and
gauge the thicknesses at either end. I have a massively
thick piece for a buckle. Very flat too on one side.
The original was whalebone. That I can't have.

I shop for stuff at about 4 pet stores and a pet dealer at
a flea market, who's 2/3 the store price for the same stuff.
Mostly I buy cow metacarpals.  

> > Considering the Mad Cow Disease/Hoof and Mouth Disease thing
> > that is affecting anything with split hooves I went ahead
> > and bought $100 worth in several batches.
> 
> My understanding is that the Mad Cow Disease is spread via
> bovine brain matter, not bone or flesh.

Yes, that was the final thought on the origin of it.
Feeding animals bits of their own body types mixed in their
feed. Spinal cords also.
However it is spread through truck tires, shoes, and
I understand wind. A range of 30 kilometers was one of 
the last articles I read in an English e-paper. It's also
spread to a number of other animals as well in a number
of countries. I watched a British program that had a list
at the end of it. Must have been thirty animal types long.
It also happened in the 40's-60's with some Pacific cannibals,
mostly the women and young, getting the left overs.

> > At some time I will be publishing an updated bibliography
> > of bone work sources. I have some that I never originally
> > listed, and I have some I've gotten since that time, and
> > I'm looking for several more I've been told about and got
> > from bibliographies.
> 
> Do you recommend any books for beginners or neophytes to
> bone and ivory carving?

RITCHIE, Carson I. A.: Bone and Horn Carving. A pictorial history
A S Barnes / Thomas Yoseloff 1975- 4to 28x21 166pp with index.
illustrated b&w. Cloth.

I have the above and like it very much.

MacGregor's books on Bone, Antler, Ivory, and Horn are both good.
The Bible of bonework was published about 1985, and fairly hard 
to get since. The other is in the York Series and still available.
I have both of those and most of his other writings.

MacGregor, Arthur: Barred Combs of Frisian Type in England;
in Med. Arch. 19, 1975, pp. 195-8 with multi-sided line drawings 
of six combs.

MacGregor, Arthur: Bone, Antler, Ivory and Horn - The Technology 
of Skeletal Materials Since the Roman Period; Croom Helm, London
and Sydney, Barnes and Noble, Totowa, New Jersey, ISBN (OOP)
0709932421, 1985  TT288.M#   LoC 84-18535, 245pp with illus.,
Contents: Raw Materials, Bone and Antler as Materials, 
Availability, Handicraft as Industry, Working Methods and Tools,
Artefacts of Skeletal Materials - a typological review, Bibliography,
Index.

MacGregor, A, A.J. Mainman, and N.S.H. Rogers: 
Bone, Antler, Ivory and Horn from Anglo-Scandinavian York; 
The Archaeology of York, the Small Finds, 17/12 Craft, Industry 
and Everyday Life; Published by the British Council for Archaeology,
Bowes Morrell House, 111 Walmgate, York, Y01 9WA, England, 
ISBN 1872414990, 936.2'843, Published for the York Archaeological 
Trust, 1999, 213 pp. with Illustrations.

MacGregor, Arthur.: Bone Skates: A Review of the Evidence; 
in Arch. Journal 133, 	1976. pp. 57-74 with illustrations 
and plate IV. Large bibliography. 
 
St. Clair, Archer and Elizabeth Parker McLachlan: 
The Carver's Art - Medieval Sculpture in Ivory, Bone and Horn; 
September 10-November 21, 1989; The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art 
Museum, Rutgers, The State University 	of New Jersey, New 
Brunswick, New Jersey, 1989,  LoC# 89-84265, 146pp., 
	Illustrated Exhibition Catalog.
I also have this one which is not too bad.

I've actually got about twenty books on bone and Ivory work
and a number of articles. Most of which I've listed previously.

Roesdahl, Else: The Vikings in England and in Their Danish 
Homeland, Exhibition Catalog, (with James Graham-Campbell, 
Patricia, Connor and Kenneth Pearson) Publ. by Anglo-Danish 
Viking Project, London 1981, 192 pp. Pb, Color and b&w photos 
of metalwork, weapons, jewelry, daily items, beads, coinage,
houses, ships, costume, combs, maps, bone and antler items, 
whetstones, dies, Bamberg Casket - Kunigunde's Jewel Box, 
spoons, frying pan, horn mounts, and sculpture - architectural 
and memorial, and amber.

Gibson, Margaret The Liverpool Ivories: Late Antique and
Medieval Ivory and Bone Carving in Liverpool Museum and the
Walker Art Gallery, Her Majesty's Stationary Office, 1994 
Cloth, 4to, 121 pp., over 50 color and b&w plates

This one I've currently got ordered. I'm looking forward to
seeing it. There were several listed on the http://www.Bookfinder.com/
I went through 1300 citations on ABE this week looking for bone
books.

Timings, Jim Bone Carving A New Zealand Guide to tools,
techniques and Marketing; Shoal Bay Press, 1999 Soft Cover. 
8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. 63p A useful little guide, with 
illustrations in drawings.

This one is one I heard of perhaps from this list, currently
listed as being for sale in the U.S. for $14 plus
shipping when I looked this week. I tracked this and Myhres
book down from New Zealand last year for $50.

Myhre,S.:  Bone Carving, A Skillbase of Techniques & Concepts; 
1987, Auckland, NZ, 116pp, 8vo, pb,  illusts., New Zealand 
bone carving, Soft Cover. ISBN 790000393   

Wainwright, G.J.: Gussage All Saints - An Iron Age Settlement 
in Dorset; Department of the Environment, Archaeological Report 
Number 10., London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1979. 
ISBN 0 11 670831 X, 202 pages, index plus 87 plates; First Edition, 
US$ 50.00  This one does not have much bone in it. It does have
a set of four bone wax modelling tools the metalcasters there used.
(I hate giving away my sources before I've done the originals though.)

Ward Perkins, J B.: London Museum Medieval Catalogue 1940. 
Anglia Publishing, 1993. Catalogue of the wide-ranging collection:
weapons, tools, horse furniture, pendants, keys, purses, weights,
lighting, household utensils, plate, pottery, tiles, pilgrim 
souvenirs, buckles, chapes, figures, wood, bone, ivory, glass, 
pipeclay, whetstones, seals. 322pp, illustrated boards, profusely
illustrated with photos and drawings. New. Book # 16 £24.50 
(approx. 38.89 American Dollars) Anglia Publishing , Unit T, 
Dodnash Priory Farm Hazel Shrub, Bentley, Ipswich, United Kingdom, 
IP9 2DF  Phone 01473 311138 / Fax 01473 312288, 
anglia at anglianet.co.uk  ('99)
 
Ward Perkins, J.B.: A Medieval Spoon in the Guildhall Museum, 
London; The Antiquaries Journal reprint, July 1939, (Vol XIX, 
No. 3), pp.313-6. and plates LXI-V and includes illustrations 
of wooden, metal and bone spoons from other time periods.

Waterman, Dudley M.: Late Saxon, Viking, and Early Medieval Finds 
from York; in Archaeologia 97, 1959, pp. 59-105. Includes bronze 
bowl, knives, axes, spears, swords, sword chape, arrowhead, horse
furniture (bits, spurs, stirrups), strapends, hooks, brooches, 
pendants, pins, bone pins and bodkins, wooden and bone spoons, 
bone combs and cases, oak casket with bone mounts, ornamental 
bonework including flutes, worked antler, spindle whorls, 
jet objects (gamepiece, pendant, whorl), glass beads, linen 
smoothers, amber, stone whetstones and line sinker, pottery 
vessels and lamps, shears.    

> > I highly suggest initial cutting with a bandsaw (if you have one)
> > OUTSIDE and that your back be to the wind with a mask on.

> I found THAT out by myself! Next time, I'll locate a vacuum
> cleaner nozzle right next to the bandsaw blade.

Told you. ;) I have the wheels to put on (and cups for them 
to sit in when I want it still), still using the newer vacuum.
I'm finding it is not enough, but it certainly helps a lot.
The big one might do it but it's way too loud to be around, even
with a muffler. I use an extra fine filter on the vacuum.

Be sure to wear a respirator. I tend to do messy things like
this prior to a well deserved shower. If you have a small
belt/disc Sander like Delta's 1" x 42" belt/5" disc sander
you will also need to do that outside. The belts load quickly
so having a crepe rubber bar or old crepe rubber shoe sole
will clear them quickly.

> > I still recommend using gravers/burins/knives to carve with 
> > unless you have a good dust system.
> 
> Can you recommend a source for these? I'm finding that the
> woodcarving blades I have aren't well suited to bone
> carving. It's really more scraping and engraving than
> carving, and I'd like to know what to look for in tools, and
> where to look for them

Right. Well. Bone does not carve as quickly as wood, it's much
more dense, and you have to take your time. It comes off in small
bits, or even dust. The ADVANTAGE to this is that you are constantly
turning and examining your object as it gradually wears away and
you can modify it and improve it in small amounts. 

Round areas I often file the outside of and scrape with concave 
dental tools I've reshaped myself to final shape. Pin shafts, 
spoon handles, animal bits for example. I do have a small C 
shaped sanding frame which modelmakers use with pins on either 
end for taking small belts. I use this for final finishing of 
prototypes for casting. The little belts can be slit in strips 
or cut to a single width for getting in small pierced areas or 
simply polishing the outside.

When you file, try to file diagonally as you go around a shaft,
or up and down a surface. This tends to leave less marks from
the work and erases others.

You could do carving with flexible shaft machines or dremels with
toothed dental burs or carving burs, I just prefer to work by
hand, even though I have five of the above and a large collection
of accessories for them. I fully expect to when I start carving
gemstones. But this is medieval hand work. Taking your time allows
you to do better details. Details are the things that add quality
or realism to carvings.

Crummy, Nina: Boneworking at Colchester; Britannia 12, 1981, 
pp. 277-85 with illus.. 8pp, 3figs.
 
Crummy, Nina: A Chronology of Romano-British Bone Pins; Britannia 
10, 1979, pp.157-63. Depicts a typology of bone pins ca. 70AD to 
early Fifth Century. Seven types are depicted and described, 
usually fairly simple work. 1) Plain conical head. 2) Transverse 
grooves beneath a conical head. 3) Pins with a 	spheroid or oval 
head. 4) Pins with a cuboid head faceted at each corner to give 
five lozenge shaped and eight triangular facets. 5) Pins with 
one to five reels beneath a conical or an ovoid head. 6) Pins 
with a reel, or bead-and-reel shaped head. 7) Pins with 
individually styled heads (not described in text - one depicted.).

Crummy is of the opinion that Roman bone workers used to leave
a large chunk of bone over the head of the pins, enabling them
to get a good grip and cut much quicker. I don't do this myself.
I suppose I should try it but it runs a bit counter to my work
experiences. I did modelmaking and plastics work to very tight
requirements and I'm not a whittler, which is what she's prescribing
for the pins, cutting away from yourself (not a bad idea, just
lacking the control I'm used to). The heads were likely filework
or turning. Not all that admirable in shape. The work I do with
pins is very decorative - style 7 which she does not illustrate
well.

(I would also caution you about putting a whole lotta side pressure
on Xacto blades. I caught a broken one directly in the left hard
contact and split it into six pieces. The contact saved my eye, 
but I nearly went blind in both from a subsequent viral eye 
infection from the scratches. The infection lasted 8 months and 
is why I can't wear contacts now. It left my eyes too dry. I was 
using the side of it to press on a heated plastic weld air bubble 
on a plating tank I was making when it broke. Your occular cords
connect at the base of the brain like a Y, which is why I nearly
lost both eyes. Hurt one and get an infection and it can spread
to both. I now wear polycarbonate lenses all the time and I can
tell you that in succeeding years they saved my eyes several times
in various shops. Flying wood knots from saws, a bolt thrown from a
grinder used by someone else, a bar clamp end on a cabinet case 
someone suddenly flipped, molten metal spray, etc. I was a 
professional, and trained in teaching industrial arts, yet I 
could also be a poster boy candidate for eye protection. 

I bought my shaper machine from a man who lost his left eye 
entirely setting an angle on a table saw - holding the wood piece
between the blade and the fence while eyeballing it at table 
level. He reached down to adjust the blade angle and touched 
the switch. He lost his home and furnishings and most of his 
shop. He was a Design School Graduate. An excellent reason to
unplug the saw at times. So it can happen to anyone.)

Generally, Viking books and articles contain a lot of strapends,
pins, textile tools, bodkins, a few bone spoons, a few buckles
like those from York, illustrated by R. Hall in the Viking Dig
and Viking York. I've got over a hundred Viking books and have
never done a complete search. The York Archaeology books are
full of them. Anglo Saxon books contain a few. One is a bone seal.

After initial blocking out I switch to hand tools and sandpaper
strictly. There is still a whole lot of work to be done. I don't
feel too out of period using modern tools to do the rough work.
My muscles harden very quickly with the FMS. Hammering is something
I don't do anymore for example. Where I once made great big
things I'm pretty limited to small things for limited periods now.
In between I spend long periods listening to the tv and writing
things like this. It helps to stay occupied while I recover a bit.

I have a very large assortment of hand tools I'm working with.
You don't need more than a dozen or so really to start.
I suggest starting with a few chisel end gravers, I have a 
number with widths varying between .5 mm to about 3 mm. (a bit 
more than an eighth of an inch. I also have some round ended ones.
I'm not as fond of the knife edge, lozenge, or v cutting ones.
I only use the v-cuts for engraving my name and date on items.
http://www.Brownells.com Search under chisels.
http://www.eloxite.com/  Search under gravers or burins
http://www.RioGrande.com/  "     "       "     "   "
Most jewelery catalogs cary them. Even automated carving tools.
http://www.woodcarverssupply.com/

I usually do my cut downs around areas I want upstanding with
the chisel ended gravers. In woodcarving this would be like
a V tool, but since bone isn't as grainy a good sharp chisel
end graver will do. I have a variety of angles. They usually
come around 50-60 degrees bevel, a couple of mine are more
like 30 degrees. I sharpen mine without the fancy holder.
I simply set them sideways on a raised surface, hold a diamond
EZELap fine file (about $7.50) vertically between my thumb
and first finger, diamonds down and away from the hand, and
back it with my other three fingers. You can file very accurately
and easily this way. I used to file industrial models.

For inletting around coves (round bottomed depressions) I use
the round gravers or scrape with a variety of round bottomed
dental tools - I bought ten double ended ones and ground them
to a variety of coves, beads, flat, and toothed designs.
They were all originally 1/4" curved scrapers on each end.
I got them at a gunshow. I'm not much on guns. I go for tools. 

I have a number of dental chisels. One I like a lot is double
ended. One end is a square chisel about 1 mm wide and the other
is a small curve. Similarly I have others with v shaped ends.
Depends a lot on what you are trying to get into. I tend to
carve/scrape the finest details with this one. Eyes, teeth,
ears insides for example.
I buy most of these new or used at flea markets and gun shows.

You can order some from places like Micromark.com or hobby stores,
but they are generally more expensive than finding them by looking
around. $2 is a good general price.

If you're desperate you could grind some, cooling in water frequently
from masonry nails, just like if you were going to make coin punches,
and handle them with dowel bits or shaker pegs. I tend to put
a lot of my tools - files particularly - in shaker wall pegs -
then I put copper ferrules on them cut from copper tubing and
crimp them. The handle ends I mark with a Sharpie magic marker with 
the shapes, just as I do my engraving burins and woodcarving
tools with burin handles. Once in a while I might use a woodcarving
tool, these tend to slip a lot more.

The dental tools I frequently tape heavily to get a more padded
grip. Ordinary masking tape works fine for this.

I also use a variety of files - full size, both size needle 
files in regular steel and diamond (diamond you can use wet 
which is safer for breathing) and some miniature files, rasps, 
and rifflers (odd shaped files).

One of my favorite tools is a skewed Green Leatherworker's knife
obtainable from http://www.ZackWhite.com/ 
Pulling as you cut works better than just pushing the blade.
By this I mean draw cutting. Think of the edge as a tiny saw blade.
Microscopically it really is.
I choke up on the blade with a couple pieces of flexible
plastic tubing I slit and superglued together on the back of
the blade. The reason I don't get cut is that the blade skews
away from my thumb and the unsharpened part is what touches
the callous on my oppositely curved thumb end.

When using gravers (without resting them on a small platform
I use for pattern work) I hold the work with my left hand,
touch thumb tips, and push/curl the graver by bringing my
tool grasping fingers slowly toward the work while I cut.
This is a whole lot different than whittling. It's a lot more
controlled.

When I engrave/carve metal sheet I frequently simply
superglue it to a wood block and pry it loose later by slipping
the edge of a knife blade under it. Somewhat similar to the
technique of gluing a piece of paper between a turning to
separate later.

For transferring patterns I often have at least two copies.
One is to work from. One I cut out with scissors and rubber 
cement to the material. I cut through this with a # 11 xacto 
knife blade, even in metal, and it leaves me lines to work 
from when I pull off the paper and rub off the cement. Rubbing 
it a bit will usually deposit enough grime to see the lines, 
if not use a marker and wipe it off rapidly by hand.

For bone work though, which I do fully in the round, this does
not work as well, and I do the patterns by eye with a fine
mechanical pencil lead. *Ink can get into the minor capillaries
in bone and be a real pain to get out later.* I establish a 
center line with a six inch ruler and measure out to points
I connect later. Perpendicular lines help a bit.

If you want your carvings to look more real try not to use
straight lines. Most things, alive ones particularly, have
curves in several dimensions. Meaning that if you have a
good chunk of bone on the end of that pin, make something to
fill it. You can curve or even loop your animal's tail that
forms the end. Study some illuminations or celtic art for
inspiration. Someone on the Regia list recently made the
observation that frequently people all try to recreate the
same object. A dozen goobs all showing up at the same event
with the same object stand out. Exact copies of medieval items
are nice, but use them for inspiration and create your own
individual variation. I frequently combine elements of two
or more items.

For doing the shallow depressions in medieval spoons I generally
scrape the inside with a curved knife or a scorper. I picked up
an exacto handle and a variety of curved blades (both ways) to
fit it. I also use sandpaper bits.

A variety of sandpaper from rough to very fine wet-dry helps
tremendously.

Once you slab off the spoon from the flat side of the metacarpal
you will see one end is actually much thinner than the other.
This is the end your spoon bowl will come from. It may be
advantageous to place your bowl either upside down or rightside
up in the surface. (Every bone is different when you cut it
open. I try to be very choosy, but even I select a few duds.
If you can't get a spoon slab out some pins, a buckle, a
pendant, needle, etc. You can still use a good part of it.)
This is the larger end of the bone and it contains a lot of
calcareous tissue (spongy) which is a pain to remove anyway
you do it without using a bandsaw blade. 

Expect the thickness of a bone spoon bowl to range from 1.5 mm
to 3 mm - roughly a sixteen to an eighth of an inch. This is
about all you can get out of an average beef bone if you have
any depression in the bowl at all. Medieval bowls of this type
in bone were very shallow. You're caught between the calcareous
(spongy bone) tissue and the uneven surface. I look for bone
with a dip in it near the hole in the surface. The thin ends
of the bone are away from the knuckles and a vein enters
the bone in a hole on front and back near the end. Your spoon
bowl would start above this hole. Beware the way it slants
going into the bone. Slab off a good half inch to start with,
examine it and then draw your profile to cut the spoon/pin from
it. You can get a bone and a couple pins from the single slab.

I suggest cutting partway through a little wood board and using 
this to support the side of your spoon bowl on and keep it from 
dropping into the bandsaw throatplate. You can cut very 
precisely by resting part of what you are cutting on the side 
back of the blade (I use a 3/8" (9.5 mm) 5-6 alternate tooth 
woodworking blade in mine usually). This way the back
part of the blade supports the piece while you nibble away
at the material you don't want with the teeth on one side
of the blade. Doing this a lot will gradually wear away the
set of the teeth on that side, so you might want to alternate.
(It will cause the blade to cut in the direction of the more
set between the two sides of the blade.)

You may find that laying out the handle of the spoon obliquely
down the length of the bone slab gives you more thickness to
work with. 3/8" (9.5mm) or slightly more is not uncommon.
 
I cut my pieces orthographically first - meaning I cut the shape 
from both the top shape, and then the side shape. If I'm aiming for
a round handle (and I have a bandsaw) I also tip the piece later
to 45% and make the handle more octagonal. This is a long way
towards round. I tend to put a point on the end of the spoon
handle (often an animal tail) for a toothpick. It's convenient.
You can also use it as an offensive dining weapon. ;)
After you carve a spoon you will fully understand why they
went to the trouble of carving a wooden or leather case to protect
them. One spoon box and cover are shown in Vikings, The North
Atlantic Saga (which is also the only example of a period horn 
spoon anyone I know of has found).

If you don't have a bandsaw you can still accomplish this with
a hacksaw for slabbing out with a metal cutting blade, and a
coping saw with a fine woodworking blade or metal cutting blade.
My experience is that jeweller's saws are a bit delicate for
this. Save your blades for other things.
Frequently I will use the handsaw blades or a file to set
shoulders and square up the material when I carve it. This is
helpful to make a stop when carving up to the shoulder.
 
> > An artificial callous or a reinforced one can be obtained by
> > treatments of covering a cyanoacrylate glue bottle mouth with
> > the desired area and tipping it, then letting it dry a few times.
 
> Haven't tried that. I'm just using a piece of pigskin now as
> a hand/finger shield.

Yep. I've done the same. Quilter's thumb covers - about $2 at
fabric stores, I wore through my skin eventually. Still at it
though since it's healed. When I don't need it (not sore) I
don't use it. Having advanced FMS I can only do the work 
occaisionally. It takes a few days for my muscles to unharden. 
So if I can do it you can. It only takes patience and planning.

By hand after initial cut out an animalistic spoon takes me about 
2 - 2 1/2 days on and off. The simpler Viking spoons would take
me a day less. A tapered, engraved Viking-style pin 
about 4-5 hours. A really ornamented animal pin takes me several 
days minimum. I've done complete dragon and wyvern bodies on a 
spoon and pins. The piece I spent the most time on was a Jellinge 
style animal headed pin. The tendrils from the top of the head 
and mouth took quite a while to carve in carefully and polish by 
hand. 

A lot of dress pins have holes or holes in them for rings.
Clearly they were attached to the garments somehow. They
didn't want to lose them.
 
> John LaTorre (Johann von Drachenfels)
> "Always do right. It will gratify some people & astonish the
> rest." - Mark Twain

Magnus Malleus, OL, GDH, Atlantia / © 2001 R.M. Howe, Raleigh, N.C. 
*** Please do not repost my writings to ANY newsgroup, especially
the Rialto/rec.org.sca, or the SCA-Universitas list. I view this
as a violation of copyright permissions.*** You -may- use them in
your local reenactor or SCA closed subscriber-based email lists
or not-for-profit newsletters. I would appreciate notification of
same if for print. Use in the www.Florilegium.org is also permitted.

From: "Eldon and Kathy Austin" <austin at netrover.com>
To: <stefan at florilegium.org>
Subject: Bleaching bones
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001 19:46:31 -0400

I have found that using ' Oxi Clean ' high energy stain remover in a pot with hot water works very well for cleaning the grease out of the bone and bleaching them. For some of the things that I make with the bone I like to leave some of the grease from the marrow to give it a mottled look then sand it to a polished finish with 1500 grit sand paper.  PLEASE !!! DO NOT FORGET TO SOME KIND OF FILTERED MASK WHEN WORKING BONE OR ANTLERS. If you don't you will end up with white lung disease and it doesn't take much, I know from experience.  

Eldon Austin

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	bone-msg	Page  of