deer bone handles?

[billk]

Here is my deer leg knife. The deer bone is from a deer I harvested, cleaned, stabilized and stained myself. Matt from ML knives made the blade and put it together for me. Matt is working on a smaller knife that I will be using as a patch knife with the other deer leg bone, which I have checkered with scrimshaw.
BillK

 

[Rifleman1776]

What was your stabilization process?

 

[billk]

It was a process I read somewhere online. I put the bone in a glass jar with 2 parts mineral spirits to one part polyurethane and left it there for a couple of weeks. I believe the process would have been faster/more efficient utilizing a vacuum, but I did not have one. BillK

 

[Rifleman1776]

It was a process I read somewhere online. I put the bone in a glass jar with 2 parts mineral spirits to one part polyurethane and left it there for a couple of weeks. I believe the process would have been faster/more efficient utilizing a vacuum, but I did not have one. BillK

What you did probably worked. I do stabilizing of wood with plexiglass dissolved in acetone in a vacuum chamber. I have never tried doing bone. Probably will one day just for yuks.

 

[dikman]

plexiglass dissolved in acetone

Now that is an interesting concoction! Some time ago I built a vacuum chamber for a knifemaker, and spent some time researching what people use for stabilising wood. Lots of things mentioned, but not that.

Most interesting.

 

[Rifleman1776]

plexiglass dissolved in acetone

Now that is an interesting concoction! Some time ago I built a vacuum chamber for a knifemaker, and spent some time researching what people use for stabilising wood. Lots of things mentioned, but not that.

Most interesting.

I do woodturnings of small objects and this has worked beautifully for me. My vacuum chamber is just a paint spray pot slightly modified. I use a Gast vacuum pump. I'm fortunate to have a source of scrap plexiglas. Acetone is my biggest expense.
BTW, it doesn't change the appearance of most woods. e.g. a knife handle could look perfectly pc but be plasticized and impervious to the elements.

 

[billk]

Interesting. How long does it take for the plexiglass to be dissolved and how long do you keep the wood in the vacuum? Can you share a pic of your setup and a few examples if the finished product?
BillK

 

[Rifleman1776]

Interesting. How long does it take for the plexiglass to be dissolved and how long do you keep the wood in the vacuum? Can you share a pic of your setup and a few examples if the finished product?
BillK

OK, I'll interrupt my busy day of doing nuttin' just for you. :wink:
Small pieces of wood I'll keep in a 23 inch vacuum for about 30 min. e.g. pen blanks and duck call blanks. Some woods require longer.
The plexi takes a couple days to dissolve.
I have tried a commercial stable solution but did not like at all. Fortunately, I was using it as part of a pre-market test and review. I'm sure the company did not like my report. It had a gagging, offensive orange-like odor, took a long time in the chamber and required heat to cure. And, it was very expensive. My solution is air dried/cured in less than an hour.
My set-up, as you can see, is not fancy but it is dust covered. :redface: Old 3 gallon spray paint pot, couple brass fittings some hose and the pump.
The wood shown is a pen blank of spalted redwood burl. The pen shown is of Big Leaf Maple Burl. It is my daily carry pen and I have been carrying for about five years. It does not have any finish on it but is still smooth and shiny. Beautiful pen. I love BLMB wood.
Maple is one of the best woods to stable. Some woods like Ironwoods, Rosewoods, etc. will not take stable at all and I will refuse if asked to do. A big advantage of doing stable is that spalted, almost rotted woods can be hardened and worked into beautiful results, like pens, knife handles, etc. My motto is "There is no such thing as scrap wood". :grin:
I do stable for pay and will send details by PM if you wish.

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[billk]

Great. Thank you for sharing.
BillK

 

[billk]

Great. Thank you for sharing.
BillK

 

[dikman]

So, how do you know how much plexiglass to dissolve in the Acetone? Obviously you don't want it too thick or it might not penetrate far enough into the wood, but if it's too thin then there won't be enough "plasticiser" left behind when the Acetone evaporates.

I'm liking this idea.....

 

[Rifleman1776]

So, how do you know how much plexiglass to dissolve in the Acetone? Obviously you don't want it too thick or it might not penetrate far enough into the wood, but if it's too thin then there won't be enough "plasticiser" left behind when the Acetone evaporates.

I'm liking this idea.....

Actually the solution has never gotten "too thick". It will get to a point where no more plexi will dissolve. That stays on the bottom of the pot as a thick goo. It is a sorta judgement thing to know when it is right. There is no real science to this it is a very basic process. I really like the stabilizing process for small objects like pens, duck calls, knife handles, pistol grips, etc. I have even made cleaning jags and rod guides using stabilized maple. The uses are endless. I turned a dozen wheels for a friend who was restoring a very large scale model train set. Again used stabilized maple, and I'll betcha those wheels will last indefinitely. Now that I have put myself out of business revealing my secrets, I hope you enjoy. :grin:

 

[dikman]

Thanks Rifleman, I'll let my knifemaking friend know. He's been experimenting with a couple of brews using acetone, so I think he'll be very interested in this.

As for me, I have no need for it (yet), so I'll file it away in the "another good idea" file for future use . :thumbsup: .