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Anyone out there cutting their own nuts and saddles? Got some cow bone (leg bones) but the walls on them weren't quite thick enough before I got into the porous marrowy part. Maybe I need a big old bull's bones. Anyone have experience here?

I get cattle and buffalo femurs from a local butcher for all my bone needs. Walls are plenty thick on these, but they all come from local, grass and grain fed, open pasture raised animals. Bones that get plenty of use in a healthy animal will develop strong and thick, while caged animals that don't use their legs will end up with relatively thin walled and weaker bones. Elk bones I've heard are very good as well, but I've never used them myself.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

David...what's your preparation process...boiling, drying, etc.?

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

I have the butcher cut them off at the knuckles to expose the marrow at both ends. Then I let it hang outside for a few weeks and let the bugs and critters do most of the work - the more soft tissue you can get rid of before boiling, the less fats there are to get driven in to the pores. Then boil and scrape (usually twice, or even three times with fresh water, trying to get rid of as much fats and oils as possible). Then I cut it up in to small manageable pieces, soak them in a jar of white gas to further degrease it, then let them dry for a day or two and toss them in the bone basket.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

I have cut them from deer antler and deer bone.They have nice dense solid bone.

Jason, I made mine at Al Carruth's and we used a blocky white, plastic-wrapped dog bone that still had the Petco pricetag on it. Here I was thinking it had to be, like, special bone or something. I bandsawed and planed the blanks out of it with plenty left over. Sure does stink when cut though!

Maybe you could look for a thick-looking one at a pet store?

Steve

Y'know, I make lots of parts myself. I make my own liners, saw my own bindings and purflings, saw fingerboards and headstock veneers from lumber, make herringbone, etc. I like doing these things, and it actually has some effect on the finished product.

But I have never felt any need to buy cow bones from the butcher and hang them up outside for a couple of months so's I could enjoy sawing my own nut and saddle blanks.

Giraffe bone, now that's another story. Nothing like going on a safari and harvesting your own giraffe.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

but now you won't be able to stop thinking about it!

i am interested in what blades etc you use for cutting i have an elephant tusk here that was found in a skip that needs cutting down but i dont want to mess it it up.so far i have had little luck with a bandsaw and cutting by hand takes forever.
i was thinking lapidary saw but that will be a big investment for a one off job.

any ideas.

joel.

Howard, I was thinking the same thing as I was reading this posting. But then again I've ground my own pigments to match the color and consistency of a stain on an antique pieice, but I did get a good laugh.

Joe