Deer bone for scales?

While I was cleaning the garage yesterday I saw a pair of deer hooves that were hanging above the work bench. They were given to my brother with some venison & have been hanging there collecting dust for about 14 years. Since I was bored and drunk I got the idea that I would strip one of them to the bone to see if perhaps I could make a set of scales out of them. Once I got all the sinew off I cleaned out the marrow and then gave them a light sanding with 80 grit then a sanding sponge. I have read a lot on the subject of making scales, but I have never made a set. I was hoping some one would give me some pointers on how to proceed from here, or if this is possible with the piece of bone I have before I spend time stripping the other one. The bones dimensions are 5&1/2" long 5/8" tall on one side 3/4" on the other & 3/4" wide. I also would like to know if it's possible to use the hoof/nail for a spacer? I personally do not hunt, but was raised by the motto "Don't kill it if your not going to eat it!!!". The venison steaks were the best I have EVER had, and would love to put it's paws to use finally.

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Thanks
Louis.

Would you need to dry them out at all or anything? I can't see why it wouldn't work, I'm just not sure of what kind of prep you'd need to do before using the building part.

Handsome. Have you ever made scales? I have not.

I expect that deciding which sections of bone are best and sawing the bone lenghtwise is next. Then you can see how thick the wall of the bone is.

Best of luck.

Phil

Munxcub said:

Would you need to dry them out at all or anything? I can't see why it wouldn't work, I'm just not sure of what kind of prep you'd need to do before using the building part.

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14 years on the wall prolly did the trick.

Cut the bone in half lengthwise. The tricky part is cutting them to 1/8 inch thick while maintaining a width that will work for you. A band saw is the way to go. You can freehand the center cut. Do not cut fingers off in the process... you will be sorry if you do. Sand both halves flat and re cut each half to that 1/8 inch. You can fill in any hollow on the inside with epoxy. If you want to really get anal, match the coloring of the bone to the epoxy. Use white and a tiny dot of brown epoxy dye to start. Once the slabs are stable, then profile the scales, round the edges, and drill where necessary.

You can flatten the outside first to get a good width to the scales and then cut for thickness. The other way I described is to save the outer bark as much as possible. In this case, you don't need to preserve it for aesthetics as in mammoth ivory or such.

The other thing you can do (next time) is to just buy cow bone already slabbed out from a knife maker supply store.

If the bone feels oily it could have some residual marrow/fat that you have to deal with. Boiling in soapy water might help, followed by soaking in ammonia. There's gotta be some do-it-yourself taxidermy type site that could help with that. Btw if you want to bleach it, don't use actual bleach! Try peroxide.

Neurotopia said:

Btw if you want to bleach it, don't use actual bleach! Try peroxide.

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I believe peroxide is a bleach in this case, and many other cases with natural pigments and organic staining. It should be less harsh than chlorine bleach though.

Phil

It is less harsh. Chlorine bleach will etch away the bone, it will keep shedding white powder for a long time after you take it out.