Bone Inlay Question

[QuanLoi]

On my current build, I'm considering using a bone inlay for the finial of a patchbox I'm building.  The inlay would be a flower roughly 1 1/4" in length.  How thick should the inlay be?  How fragile?  Would epoxy be used to hold it in position?

Thanks to everyone in advance...

[rich pierce]

You’re a brave fella. Good on ya. I’d go 1/8” or more because you cannot bend it and in a finial there is usually some curve. I’d be extra careful screwing it down, basically just holding it, not expecting the screws to pull it down. Inletting it, popping it in and out, would make me pucker a bit. I’d glue a block on top to grasp then rasp or file that off when it’s in.

[davec2]

I would ditto everything that Rich said.....and gluing on a wood handle is a great idea.  Personally, I would use epoxy to hold the inlay in.  Also you will have to be very careful about staining the stock if the inlay is already set in place.  Depending on the type of bone, and how much porosity may be present, the inlay can suck up a lot of stain as well.  I usually treat any bone with the very non-viscus CA glue to fill up as much of the porosity as possible.  Not fool proof but it certainly helps in keeping the bone from staining.

[Not English]

I have not thought about CA glue as Dave mentions. I've always used vaseline to seal things up. I have to think CA would be much less messy. By all means glue your inlay down. Pin it with barbed pins after it's set up. This will help avoid cracking. You could also put a decoratively filed or engraved screw in the middle of the flower.

[Pukka Bundook]

As mentioned above, 1/8" or  a bit more is good.

Richard.

[Hungry Horse]

All I will say is bone is porous, and absorbs virtually everything. Back in the day it was incredibly cheap, or free, so we should see longrifles festooned with tons of it, but you don’t. There is always a good reason for such things.

  Hungry Horse

[Eric Kettenburg]

You want to cut pieces of bone so that the exterior surface of the inlay is the exterior surface of the bone, or at the least, the exterior say 1/16" or so.  You don't want to get into the porous 'honeycomb' portions because they will look like $#@* when finished.  For a matchbox finial or something of that size, I would expect to use probably two pieces mated along the vertical axis (i.e. hinge area to tip) unless you are starting with an absolutely huge piece of bone with little curvature - maybe a scapula or larger, flatter piece like that?

If you take care and do it correctly it will look fantastic.  As mentioned above, do not go into it thinking you'll treat it like a piece of brass etc.  Inletting will require a very solid floor underneath for good support (or glue filler), and screws or pins to hold it in place should not be cranked down by Godzilla.

You may be able to buy single pieces from knife suppliers (i.e. knife scales) that may be large enough on the exterior surface to do what you want to do without piecing multiples together.

It's not going to take a stain like the wood will; depending on the color you want, need to plan ahead.  If you want it darker, can try soaking the finished piece in tannic acid/oak bark for a month or so before fastening in place.  Or if you want it lighter color, even aqua fortis doesn't really add much color other than kind of surface thing, and then you have heat issues to worry about.

[louieparker]

If its a patch box finial the curve of your stock where the finial goes will dictate how thick it should.. The rounder the surface the thicker the bone...I would suggest you do a google search for slab camel bone or just bone..  You can find various thickness and width slabs..Bovine bone is good also.. I sort of like camel bone..  Good luck ...LP

[FDR]

These folks have any kind of bone you might need. They are well known to custom knife makers. Good folks.

https://www.knifehandles.com/culpepper-and-company

Fred

[Eric Kettenburg]

They've sure got some nice stuff!  Thanks for the link.

[smart dog]

Hi,
Wood glue like Titebond works very well too.  You don't have to use epoxy.  The key to fragile bone inlays is they have to be pressed in place by finger pressure.  You cannot really tap them very much.  That means the mortice has to be well fitted but not over tight.  I achieve that by tracing the outlines of the bone (and mother of pearl) inlays with a sharp pencil rather than a sharp knife. Then I stab in the mortice using the pencil line.  That creates a snug mortice but not like the bone grew out of the wood.  Anyway, any seams are eliminated when the wood is stained or finished, but in prior to that the inlay can be pressed in place and removed with finger pressure.  I know about what I write because I've done a lot of intricate bone inlays.

dave

 

[GANGGREEN]

Wow Smart Dog, that's something.

Timely topic, I'm getting close to starting a few builds and I'm getting experienced enough that I wish to learn some new things and maybe use some antler on the butt or toe, make some antler inlays, etc..  I also just purchased a few small pieces of Mammoth ivory for the same reason and I obviously don't wish to bitch them up.

[Hungry Horse]

 If you are looking for that warm old ivory look instead of bright white, an  oil base golden oak stain simply wiped on, and wiped off will do it. If you do it and decide you want it a little darker repeat the process. Just be aware that stock stains, and regents, that aren’t sealed, or neutralized may generate a surprise for you down the road.
  Agateized ivory is hard to work but not so susceptible to staining, but prehistoric ivory that hasn’t agateized is particularly vulnerable to staining.

  Hungry Horse

[GANGGREEN]

That's also interesting.  I was thinking about a hunter's star with contrasting light and dark pieces, but didn't know what to use or how to stain the ivory darker.  Definitely gives me something to think about.

If you are looking for that warm old ivory look instead of bright white, an  oil base golden oak stain simply wiped on, and wiped off will do it. If you do it and decide you want it a little darker repeat the process. Just be aware that stock stains, and regents, that aren’t sealed, or neutralized may generate a surprise for you down the road.
  Agateized ivory is hard to work but not so susceptible to staining, but prehistoric ivory that hasn’t agateized is particularly vulnerable to staining.

  Hungry Horse

[davec2]

I have made a hunter's star out of ivory and ebony.  If you want contrast, you can't get much more pronounced than that.  Also, bone and ivory can be stained with something as simple as tea.  Here is a post of mine from a while back that addresses the subject......

I made this knife a while back and made the grip out of hippopotamus ivory.  It was fairly white when I was shaping the grip.  I soaked it in a little warm water and a couple of tea bags for a day.  This is how it came out........

[thecapgunkid]

Try everything on a piece of scrap first, because there is a lot of good advice in this thread.

There are several  tricks I have learned from far better builders than I am.   I learned by putting a bone inlay in the wrist of every one of my guns ( all twelve of 'em). 

The first is that the bottom seating of the inlay to the wood should be flush, so a delicate hand is called for.  The second is is not to be put off by a lot of bone sticking up out of the epoxy well it is seated in. 

Be careful not to overload on the epoxy because too much of it will corrupt the surrounding wood to the stain.  I was taught to use Coffee stirrers as spatulas, and to get excess off quick when I clamped the inlay into the wrist mortise. The excess epoxy will come off when you sand and whisker. 

 Rubber clamps only...or at least thorough padding so as to avoid marring the wood or bone

After smoothing and whiskering, but before staining, coat the inlay with rubber cement.  Cut the hairs of a fine brush really short so you can stay within the border of the inlay with the cement.  You can go right over it with stain that way, but you need a steady, gentle hand.

If you want to antique or stain the inlay, then do it after you have assessed the final color of the wood....maybe ivory white, maybe yellowed....you'll know.

When you oil the stock, you can decide  whether to cover the bone also.




Good luck...
Capgun

[Pukka Bundook]

In my case, I like to use old buffalo and such bones from the muskeg.
They come out quite aged and brown, and I think that looks good on an old (looking) gun or rifle.
I'd stain the epoxy, then clamp the inlay in place.  Seems to work.
Only thing with epoxy, is if you are using nitric as a stock finish, and running over heat.  It can melt the epoxy a bit!
Wood glue, (yellow) works every bit as well and no need for pins to hold the inlays in place.