Author Topic: Bending bone?  (Read 7884 times)

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Offline Adam

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Bending bone?
« on: June 13, 2012, 03:13:39 pm »
I'm attempting my first tip overlays and I have some bone I'd like to use from a hog I shot.  The only bones I have seem too curved to fit my tips.  I wish I'd saved some flatter bones, but didn't think of it at the time.  The ones I have are about the same radius as a nickel. I know I could fill them with epoxy, but was hoping for a cleaner look.  Does anyone know a good way to flatten them out?  Thanks!

Offline RidgeRunner

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Re: Bending bone?
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2012, 06:52:04 pm »
I cant seen to figure out exactly why you need to Bend the bone.

Look in the Bow section...  Twistedlimbs has just posted a Dogwood bow with tip overlays.
I have not seen that he has posted how wide the tips are but..... I will be surprised if they are more than 3/8" wide.

You only need a sliver of material to make a tip overlay.

David
David Key / N.W. Alabama

Offline Adam

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Re: Bending bone?
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2012, 09:48:53 pm »
Thanks RidgeRunner.  After looking at those tips, I think you are exactly right. I was under the false impression I needed bone across the entire back portion of the limb.  Thanks for the input!

Offline Pappy

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Re: Bending bone?
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2012, 11:19:22 am »
What David said and I might add,be sure the bone is bone dry ;) :) :) I have used it with good success but the first time I tried it their was still some oil in the bone and had the glue fail ,now I will soak in denatured alcohol or acctone and dry, then glue and have had no more trouble.  :) We have tried bending bone/antler and horn with some success but lots of times it will crack if you don't go really slow
with the bend. :)
   Pappy
Clarksville,Tennessee
TwinOaks Bowhunters
Life is Good

Offline Adam

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Re: Bending bone?
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2012, 06:06:17 pm »
Thanks Pappy!  I'll be sure to get it soaked to get the oil out.  All I've done so far was boil it, so I'm sure there's still some oil in there.  I hadn't thought of that.

Offline stickbender

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Re: Bending bone?
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2012, 12:02:49 am »

     Personally, I would toss it, and go to the pet store, and get a nice bleached out Beef bone.  I used to do a lot of carving with bone, and I found that pork bone, even the leg bone, is not a good source to carve, I have found it to be brittle, and crumbly.  Maybe, if you are using a flat sliver, it would work fine.  As for bending bone, back in the 70's or 80's Omni Magazine, had an article on nifty little tricks, and one was a real chicken bone tied in a knot!  It also showed a beef bone bent like it had rickets, and there was a raw chicken egg in a glass milk bottle !  The secret......... Vinegar!   :o  Soak the bones in vinegar.   Soak the egg in vinegar, a few days in the refrigerator, and then fill the bottle half full of water, and heat it, till steam is coming off, then put the now rubbery egg on top of the bottle, and it will make a vacuum, and suck the egg into the bottle, and then immediately pour out the water, and then fill with cool water, and put back in the refrigerator, and change the water, often, and then the vinegar will leach out, and the shell will again become a hard shell.  Never tried it, but heard it works.  Not sure how many times you change the water, or how long you soak any of the items in vinegar.  But that is the best I can remember of the article.  Also had a neat pre sliced banana trick .  You slice the banana without peeling it.  When you peel it , it falls off in slices, and peeling is intact.  Pretty cool, to exchange one in some one's lunch box, or put one in a fruit bowl. ::) ;D >:D >:D

                                                    Wayne

Offline stubshaft

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Re: Bending bone?
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2012, 01:30:03 am »
Vinegar works great.  I read about it years ago and used it to soften turkey drumsticks and tie them into knots.
If God didn't want man to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them out of MEAT!

Offline Adam

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Re: Bending bone?
« Reply #7 on: June 19, 2012, 08:51:07 am »
Thanks! I'll have to give vinegar a try.  It sounds fun to see what will happen.

Offline carpentertimw

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Re: Bending bone?
« Reply #8 on: June 19, 2012, 11:21:21 am »
Coke will work the same or better than vinegar, just don't drink it afterwards :)

Offline Polar Bear

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Re: Bending bone?
« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2012, 06:32:28 pm »
Another option is to use the hoof for tip overlays.  They polish up real nice.  Just a thought.
When we do right no one remembers, when we do wrong no one forgets.