Bone Handle - How to make one?

[Col Defender]

Last night, a guy who is about to go bear hunting (and will probably get a bear) told me he wants me to make a knife for him using a bear bone for a handle. I know this can be done but my feeble internet search skills did not find me anything.

Can someone please post a link(s) that explain the process? I vaguely remember someone in the past who said all the marrow has to be cleaned out somehow and the interior filled with something else etc etc. And maybe I'm just dreaming that part up. Not enough coffee yet this morning. I have time but want to study up and maybe even do a trial effort on a deer antler (always have a few of them around) before I work on his bear bone.

Thanks

Steve

 

[David Stifle]

I've made a lot of bone handles using cow bone. Bone is sometimes called the poor man's ivory, it can be shined up until it glows. Takes your bone and clean it out. Get rid of any biological material, some people boil it but if you do, don't do it too long as it weakens the bone. You can shape the bone on your grinder, but you can't go too deep. The handle should fit up tight against your guard, and you need to have a butt plate on the other end. Your threaded tang should go through the butt plate so you can tighten it down with a nut. I've used various items to fill the hollow interior of the bone, sometimes JD Weld, sometimes grizzly glue (white) which expands to fill every crack and crevice. It will leak out in various places, so be prepared to wipe it off as it comes out. If you click on my name at the top of this post, it will take you to my photo album, where you can see several knives I've made with bone handles. Honestly, the hardest part is shaping it without burning it or going too deep. Good luck! And...Thank you for your service, Col.

 

[Col Defender]

Thank you David! I looked at your album.Your work is beautiful and I particularly like the polished bone handles. Kind of curious though about the nut on the butt plate. Is it a standard acorn nut or something more ornate; and did I see a hole in the nut which would accommodate a lanyard? Will brass work for a hilt and for the end plate or should I stick with steel?

 

[David Stifle]

Thank you David! I looked at your album.Your work is beautiful and I particularly like the polished bone handles. Kind of curious though about the nut on the butt plate. Is it a standard acorn nut or something more ornate; and did I see a hole in the nut which would accommodate a lanyard? Will brass work for a hilt and for the end plate or should I stick with steel?

A lot of guys make their own finial nuts, and they can get quite ornate. On a more rustic blade, however, I don't think a standard nut tightened down, then with a peened over tang would look out of place. If you want to make your own, you need a tap and die set and a way to shape it. Sure, brass will work fine for a guard and buttplate; it looks particularly good, I think, if you use a brass blackening fluid, available at most gunshops. It gets a really antique look to it. No, you didn't see a lanyard hole in the nut, that would be a bad place for it if not almost impossible. Putting a lanyard hole in a cow bone, or bear bone, handle could represent a bit of a challenge since you are dealing with a hollow object, and one that cracks fairly easily, and to be honest, I've never put one in a bone handle.

Oh, and thank you for the kind compliment.