Bones

[LittleRhiannon]

I'm trying to make a set of runes out of bones. I've collected some from the chicken my family had for dinner last night, and I put them through the dishwasher, but I was wondering if there is anything else I should do.

I think I head that I should bleach them...would that clean them more? Or is it not a good thing to do?

[kitsch]

i would definitely make sure they're well disinfected . chicken bones are porous, and i'm worried about them harbouring bacteria. if the bones were collected before the chicken was cooked, they could be tainted with all kinds of nasties.
bleach might do it, but i would still wash your hands well after using them, especially at first.
unfotunately, i don't have a better alternative in mind.

[Billy Pilgrim]

Hm. Bone runes sound really neat, but I'm not sure how you'd make chicken bone runes.. o.O ... or any kind of bone runes, for that matter..

[Verthandi]

i would definitely make sure they're well disinfected . chicken bones are porous, and i'm worried about them harbouring bacteria. if the bones were collected before the chicken was cooked, they could be tainted with all kinds of nasties.
bleach might do it, but i would still wash your hands well after using them, especially at first.
unfotunately, i don't have a better alternative in mind.
Maybe soak them in boiling water too?

[Rick]

Um... you're probably gonna want to use bone that's a little more substantial than chicken bones... but I understand that 'go with what ya got' thing... but if you can get by a local meat market, they most likely will give you a large beef or pork bone...

The bone must be clean of all meat, including any marrow in the center, and must be 'dry as a bone' (in this case, it ain't just an old saying :hehehehe: ). You can accomplish this by putting the bone in the oven on the lowest heat setting overnight. This should remove most of the moisture within it. If you put it in bleach, use a relatively mild solution (a couple of tablespoons of bleach to a gallon of water) & don't soak for more than a few minutes (bleach will make the bone brittle). After the bone is nice & dry, cut it in two longwise & place it in a tupperware-type container & cover it with vinegar. Seal the lid & let it soak for three days. This will make the bone sorta soft & rubbery, so you can press it nice & flat (OK, I'm workin' from memory here... check it after three days. If it's not soft & pliable, keep soaking it 'til it is). Work it flat, wash off the vinegar, & dry again. Cut to size.

I love to carve in bone... unlike wood, bone doesn't have a grain.

[LittleRhiannon]

Thank you all :)

[Tsuchimaru]

Any of the bones I have were found were found on the beach, so they're all bleached and white. :)

[Silverfire Darkmoon]

I would much rather have runes made of human jawbone. Failing that, of course, I'd probably make them out of willow or something.

[-Ember]

After the bone is nice & dry, cut it in two longwise

What do you use to do this? Any techniques that will help?

[Rick]

After the bone is nice & dry, cut it in two longwise
What do you use to do this? Any techniques that will help?
I prefer power tools myself... saber saw, table saw, Dremel with a large cutting wheel... but a hacksaw blade will work, is relatively cheap, & available at your favorite hobby center, hardware, or variety store. While bone is a hard substance, sawing or cutting it is about like cutting chalk; there's just not much 'resistance', if you get my drift...

[-Ember]

Another use for a dremel? Yay!

[cheddarsox]

Hydrogen peroxide is preferred for bleaching bones to chlorine bleach. Just use it straight from the bottle at the grocery store.

cheddar

[Rick]

Doh!

Great idea.

[-Ember]

Well, since it is sort of on the same subject... any advice for finishing cleaning a few skulls? I've been just waiting on a sun bleach/age cleaning while trying to keep them out of reach of the dogs, but the elk skull just has a few mummified strips hanging on that I'd like to get rid of before bringing it inside. General tips for future adventures in bone collecting would also be appreciated.

[Djinn]

My cousin is a CSI (really! since before the TV show) and she told me that the coroner-type where she works boils bones in salt water with Tide laundry soap. He's not boiling elk, but the principles should be the same.

[Romani Vixen]

just boiling it should do the trick. Then dry out thorougly.

[FlyingBear]

I threw the bones for a short time. I also found that if you leave them out where ants can get to them, they'll do a surprisingly decent job of cleaning them. I usually boil as much meat off that I can and then leave them out for the bugs and the elements to have a go.

The bones that I used was the ox tail. Various sizes, none of them brittle and you can place the runes on the knobby ends or the mid section.

[equinox2]

I’ve cleaned several skulls several ways to make them good for both biology teaching and just a cool things. The evolutionary differences between say, a ‘possum & a raccoon are interesting – not to mention turtle or bird.

To get the flesh off, you can either boil the hell out of it, then pick, pick, pick with a tweezers & a nut pick or you can just take the raw skull and leave it in the woods (buried under a layer of leaves) and let the bugs do it. I’ve found the bug method to be easier and more effective, but don’t leave it out for more than year or it starts to degrade. Also, anything with antlers requires occasional checks (or metal screen protection) because various rodents (mice, porcupines) will find them and gnaw them. :reindeer:

After that, however you get there, you need to whiten it. Either soak in bleach or in hydrogen peroxide for a few days. I’ve found bleach works great, and is easy and cheap. For colored parts (like a porcupine’s red teeth or a deer’s brown antlers), they of course shouldn’t be soaked in the bleach. Use alcohol to disinfect those. :reindeer:


Lastly – and importantly!! Be sure to seal it somehow. I’ve found that a very heavy coat of clear spraypaint works fine. That way it won’t gather dirt and grime if handled by our dirty hands. Oh yeah, and for your rune application, avoid bird bones – they have evolved to be hollow and delicate for flight. Mammal or Reptile bones are much more robust.

Have fun!
May your mind soar like the eagle-

[ancestral_lee]

yep id go for boiling them in hot salty water for a few hours to kill off an nasties then dry them out very thoroughly in a hot-ish oven.

id use the more substantial bones as they will be a bit more robust.

my ideal set would be human teeth - but alas i have yet to devise a means to trap the tooth fairy.

[-Ember]

Only problem is finding a pot big enough for the elk.... :hmmmmm:

[Rick]

I boiled the meat off of a bunch of big ol' catfish heads once (I wanted the fin bones) in a 55 gallon drum over an open fire... not practical in every locality, but very effective...