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Here is the latest Luthier Tips du Jour video. - In this video Heidi Litke of Red Sands Ukuleles shows us how to process bone to make nuts and saddles.
This video as well as all my other videos are available via my website, http://www.obrienguitars.com/videos , LMI's website or on youtube.

I assume this doesn't involve bleaching of the bone, or is this what the process in the video is called?

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

The sun does the bleaching. Heidi mentions that in the video. I suppose you could also artificially bleach the bone.

I boiled the bones in vinegar to degrease them first

A few comments, based on my wife's experience with processing some cow femurs for an art project:

1. For me, the amount of work and the messiness/smelliness of the job outweigh any benefits to be had from doing it myself. Whatever bone blanks cost, I will pay that cost to avoid this work.

2. My dogs went BONKERS when we did this. They were absolutely out of control, like their lives depended on getting to those bones being boiled on the stove. So, prepare for that potential problem.

I just cut mine from dog bones from pet smart. They work great. I think you can get I bleached too but I can’t remember


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Is white gas in a bottle the same as a Molotov Cocktail?

Ask Padma if you can still find him.... He leaned that way.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I keep seeing that name pop up every so often..... I feel like there's some history there I don't know about.

Dan, it is all still in the archive if you want to search.

I looked up white coleman camping gas. One could use straight unleaded with no additives, kept outside., or kerosene from the big box stores. You can also experiment with acetone from the dollar store . It/s supposed to be a degreaser. Have not tried any of these myself, except for using a strong vinegar soloution at the outset

If you pick up bones or antlers after they lay around for a couple of years you don't have to do any of that. Just cutting them up is kind of stinky.

I researched 'white gas' quite a while ago and the results were a little vague. The nearest I could tell, it's naphtha.
I bought a gallon a year and a half ago and it's a great solvent. I use it to wipe down wood after sanding to remove contaminants and remove paraffin residue after scraping, on the ends of fingerboards and such.
As a side note; it does a very good job of removing protein and lipid deposits on rigid gas permeable (hard) contact lenses.
DO NOT USE ON SOFT CONTACT LENSES>(I have been a 'certified contact lens fitter' over thirty years)

Brent

White gas = naphtha...

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We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

Just so you know, in Taiwan they do not sell cow bones dogs chew on, so I always struggled to understand what you guys meant when "using dog bones from the pet store" because here they sell fake bone pressed into the shape of a bone.

However one trip to Walmart in the US and I immediately understood, they have real cow bones for dogs to chew on. Must be some weird laws about importing cow bones to Taiwan or something (for eating, not bone blanks).

However I asked the local butcher if they had cow bones, they say they do, for making beef noodle soups and stuff, however there's a good chance they're all cut up into small pieces making them useless for bone blanks.

They cost less than 1 US dollar per blank from Taobao anyways.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com