Antiquing bone

Hello everyone,

I would like to know some different techniques to antique bone and or add a patina.

Thanks

 

[jeffdrown]

I use a "smoker" to give it a old look. I smoke bone and horns. Smoke it just long enough to get the look you like. If you think about it ..back in the old days they were around smoke alot. I bet it colored theres too!

This simple smoker I use is just a burner ...cast iron pan with wood dust...steel five gallon bucket with holes drilled through bottom to let smoke in. Hang bone or horn so you don't get lines in it. Good luck

 

[necchi]

I've done it with used coffee grounds and bone hairpipe beads.
Just toss'm in a slurry of water and the coffee grounds an let'm soak.

 

[Black Hand]

Simmering bone & antler in strong tea will also add patina. You can also try aquafortis reagent.

 

[burch]

So how do ya do it if the horns already finished ? I`d hate to soak my horn. Maybe the smoke method would work.

burch

 

[paulvallandigham]

You can tape off the wood plug, and spout, and then wipe coats of stain on the horn until you get the color(s) you want. Go to TOTW to buy a copy of
Scott Sibley's book, Recreating the 18th century Powder Horn.

 

[cynthialee]

I was thinking just now that a nice clorophyl bassed dye would make a pretty color on the horn and you would have a Green Horn.
:haha:

 

[CrackStock]

potassium permanganate is used as a stain and would accomplish this goal of rapid aging.

Potassium permanganate

 

I would like to know some different techniques to antique bone and or add a patina.

What are you making?

 

I see their are many methods avalable :hmm:

Are these all working with bleached bone ??

Also I am trying to make a coyote jawbone handle for a patch knife :wink:

 

[omarick1948]

Strong tea soaking the easiest, but dyed with RIT clothing dye the most durable!

Rick

 

Also I am trying to make a coyote jawbone handle for a patch knife

I asked because sometimes people want to antique their gear to make it look 200 years old, when in fact someone in the "flintlock era" would not be using something that old. The stuff they used was "new" when they were using it. IMO

 

[Claude Mathis]

A little "aging" to make it look used is nice, but some people do get a little carried away.

 

[jeffdrown]

With "smoking" You watch it often and only take it where you want it!

 

I have made the jawbone clean and white with hydrogen peroxide and I was wondering if their is a period correct way to secure the teeth.

Could they be secured with pewter :hmm:

 

[Rifleman1776]

All those will work.
Me? I would just use and let take it's patina naturally. Works fine. :wink:

 

[CrackStock]

I am with Rifleman. Many horns were slightly stained rather than aged and then oiled to protect the decorations.

Having a hundred year old (or more) looking horn would have been a bit odd to a man who only had it for a few years. If you are doing a Rev War impression and have a Rev War slogan scrimshawed into it from an event a year or two earlier, how would it then be a hundred or two hundred years old...

The real question is whether you are faking a museum piece from the past for your wall or creating a tool that someone could have been using during your period of history.

It is all about what you want from your items.

Just a thought,
CS

 

[dyemaker]

I have a jar that I filled with osage orange root bark and distilled water. It has been sitting on my fridge for months and the water has turned yellow. I think this would work fine on bone and horn. One day soon I will dye some bits of material and show it.

 

[MJMarkey]

Dixie Gun Works used to/sells a chemical called "Old Bones" It is for antiquing bones and horn. Never tried it on bone, but used it with great success on horns. Works very quickly, you can watch it work, when it hits the color you like rinse it to stop it.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have a jar that I filled with osage orange root bark and distilled water. It has been sitting on my fridge for months and the water has turned yellow. I think this would work fine on bone and horn. One day soon I will dye some bits of material and show it.

Interesting. I work with OO quite a bit. As pretty as that bright orange/yellow color is, we know that with time and exposure to light it will become walnut dark brown.
Is your solution and dye immune to those effects of time and light?