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AJ
20-05-2013, 03:41 AM
well, I seen some where that if you grab the bone from your dog, give it a boil, then you can cut n grind to flavor of the day...
So I'm going to have a crack at doing this, not because it's cheaper to buy one, but to actually be able to experience how to do it..
Presently I have a large "marrow bone " bought from the local supermarket bubbling away on the portable induction hotplate.
Not sure how long to boil it for, so will let it "simmer for an hr or so.. to try to get all the fat etc out of it. One thing for sure... if it doesn't work I will have some "marrow bone beef stock for stews later...lol

http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/u6zox-2013-05-19-14.41.48.jpg

AJ
20-05-2013, 03:42 AM
for reference, that is a 20 liter pot there... fogot to mention that my dog is somewhat peeved at me for not giving him the juicy treat first.. :P

keloooe
20-05-2013, 03:48 AM
I doubt my dog would be happy either.....
She would be jumping up and down trying to get the bone from the pot and start crying...

WeirdBits
20-05-2013, 03:56 AM
These may help: Cleaning bone for musical instruments (http://www.bearmeadow.com/build/materials/bone/html/bone-clean.html) and Making a bone nut blank (http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/luthiers-corner/170313-making-bone-nut-blank.html).

AJ
20-05-2013, 04:16 AM
ty

phloggy
20-05-2013, 04:53 AM
Also, don't feed your dog cooked bones. They're brittle and can shatter while they're being chewed and can do nasty things to the inside of dogs.

AJ
20-05-2013, 09:09 AM
my poor ol dog is on his last legs now, being in his ... twilight years of 16 and a tad.. nearly to the stage of having to lift his leg for him..

AJ
20-05-2013, 09:14 AM
ok, got the boiling bit done, cleaned up the bone, and cut it down to get the usable bit, then reboiled those in a watered down dish washing liquid. allowing to dry over night then will soak in prepsol for a week. Then will bleach in peroxide if I don't like the color.
Didn't get a lot of useable bone from it, but enough for me to give it a try. I f I do this again, next time will go to the local butcher for a decent bit of cow bone.

phloggy
20-05-2013, 09:17 AM
Oh. In that case do whatever your dog wants. I lost my old girl about a year ago now. She got spoiled rotten at the end.

AJ
30-07-2013, 11:16 AM
Finally got around to finishing off a totally home made bone nut, from start to finish for the old "cort" guitar. Will post up a pickie of it in a few days time when I am not speed/ data restricted ( new billing month, the son blew the bandwidth with you tube vids..)

I did soak the bone fragments in degreaser for a few weeks, then air dried for about a week.

Removing the old nut .. well I did stuff that bit up and chipped a bit of the maple fret board at the end. Could not find the chipped out piece as it went into the garden , and you guessed it.. I have wood chips on the garden as Mulch... dammit :( On the brighter side though, the shaping,filing and slotting went like a dream. I also buffed up the finished nut on the polisher using the white cutting compound, must say that to me it then looked like a nice ivory white piano colored key.. that impressed me at least.)

Nut fitted and no further need to file the string slots as I took the slots down to a bee's knee past the level I had -marked as a guide.

I must say this was quite an enjoyable, let alone educational experience for me.

dingobass
30-07-2013, 12:07 PM
I don't want to pour cold water on what you have done AJ, as it most probably will work OK.
However, the old Luthiers I know taught me the very best way to prepare bone is to let nature do the work for you.
The process is such.

Give your dog the bone to gnaw on, when the dog loses interest, hang said bone on the fence in direct sunlight for a year or more to let the sun dry and bleach it.

Alternatively place said bone on an ants nest and let them clean it, then hang it for a year or two...

Of course I realise this is a long time to wait for a suitably cured piece of bone, and unless you have ready access to a rural area with old cow skeletons that have been lying around for a while, it is way too long to wait :)

The trouble with boiling and bleaching is it actually weakens the bone and kills the full tonal potential as this process actually makes the bone brittle in comparison to a naturally prepared bone.

But as I said previously, the results from your Mad Professor experiments will work fine :)

keloooe
30-07-2013, 12:12 PM
Or you can just clean it and leave it unbleached for maximum tone?

dingobass
30-07-2013, 12:19 PM
Why are you still up, Pest? Miss Fiona says it is way past your bed time :)
You do have a point, but natural is always going to be better.
On the rare occasions I use a pre bought bone nut blank, I always but un bleached.

keloooe
30-07-2013, 08:58 PM
Is Miss Fiona crazy or something??? :P :D
But still, if you want looks, go for bleached, if you love tone, go for unbleached! DB anf Gav should start forming videos on how to build guitars, step by step, like David Fletcher does! I would love to learn how to shape a neck!