by Johan Oosthuysen
from www.KMTs.co.za‘s complementary How-2... Series
"Sharp “Knifo” Tips:"
How to prepare bone scales
Allow the bone to dry out preferably in the shade and remove all meat. You might
want to bury it in moist soil for a couple of months and let nature do all the
junk and
smelly work for you.
First cut the two heads off resulting in a nice straight cylindrical shaft.
You will notice the honey comb bone structure inside the heads, these can be cut
in
slabs, cleaned / sterilized and impregnated with a stained resign under vacuum.
This
looks stunning, alternatively, you could feed it to the dogs.
Cut the shaft into scale length stumps.
Get a big pot and a stove, submerge the stumps under water mixed with formalin
or a disinfectant such as Jic to kill any germs inside the bone structure and boil.
A fatty residue will soon come to the surface, remove and continue boiling until
there
is no more, adding boiling water when the level drops to the bones. Sun dry for
2 to 3
days.
Study the bone from the top / open end. The thickest front part of the bone is
not the
best, will probably crack down the centre. Rather focus on the two side walls of
the
bone and be prepared to write the front and rear walls off. This should result
to two
proper scales per stump, shape them as closely to the size you finally want them
to
be.
Before fitting, you need to decide on the colouring and / or stabilization of
the bone.
The bone can be used in it’s raw form and depending on the quality and density
of the
piece, can be very attractive.
To colour the bone, use a spirits base dye, such as the type used for leather.
For
best results submerge the bone in a vacuum, allowing all air to escape and the
dye to
fully penetrate. Alternatively cool the dye in the fridge/freezer as close to
freezing
point as possible, heat the bone in the microwave oven, or ordinary oven to 180
degrees or a point to hot to touch, and submerge the hot bone into the chilled
dye.
The bone will suck the cooled dye in like a koeksister. Allow to dry.
