bone carving

How hard is bone on the mho (talc, gypsum, etc.) scale? Chris

On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 02:26:36 GMT, wrote:

How hard is bone on the mho (talc, gypsum, etc.) scale? Chris


Don't know how hard it is but our local museam has wonderful examples
carved by French POW's during the Napoleonic wars using mutton and
beef bones from their rations and very basic tools.

Not a lot on the net but see

http://www.peterboroughheritage.org....0cross%201.htm

On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 02:26:36 GMT, wrote:

How hard is bone on the mho (talc, gypsum, etc.) scale? Chris

Don't know about the "mho" scale ("mighty hard objects"?), ; ) but
I can tell you that it is harder than saaay, hard maple or lignum
vitae. Even harder than ironwood (hophornbeam). It is much harder
than talc or gypsum, though. American Indians, Inuit and other
aboriginal people did and still do make arrowheads and harpoon points
out of it.

As far as carving it goes, you _can_ carve it, by hand, with any metal
tool, but it carves much easier with a powered tool, like a Foredom or
Dremel. While being hard, it is also brittle, and will chip and crack
if you stress it too much. And of course, like wood, "green" bone
carves easier than dried bone.

So, to answer your question...Maybe a 3 or 4 on Moh's scale...? I'm
guessing, but that seems about right.

--
Chuck *#:^)
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On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 02:26:36 GMT, wrote:

How hard is bone on the mho (talc, gypsum, etc.) scale? Chris

Bone is harder than most hard woods but not any worse than iron
wood. I have carve a lot of Roast bones cut in half and figurines
carved with my pocket knife. It takes a really sharp knife of good
quality and only take small thin cuts (flakes). You can scrape just
about as well cut.
How much time and patience you have is a determining factor. If I
am carving ivory or bone and I want faster results I will use my
foredom and burrs but smoothness and clean up is harder to accomplish
than if you scraped it smooth as you carve. I have lots of time so I
take the hard path of carving and shaping. A lot of the figurines were
touched up with a fine sand paper and steel wool and I just carry it
around in my pocket and rub it to a polish with my thumb.
You can polish it with a foredom with a cotton wheel and a polish
such as " fabuluster" purchased at any rock shop or jewlry supply
shop. (lots faster)

Carved from a half round beef bone will let them stand up after you
are done and I just sit them up on the shelf in my shop.

How hard is bone on the mho (talc, gypsum, etc.) scale? Chris

Don't know about the "mho" scale ("mighty hard objects"?), ; ) but
I can tell you that it is harder than saaay, hard maple or lignum
vitae.

As a geologist I often wonder about the hardness of everyday objects on
Moh's Hardness scale, and your typo and the resulting puzzled query really
tickled me!

Jey

The message outcrafting.com
from "Jey" jey@[EMAIL PROTECTED] contains these words:

How hard is bone on the mho (talc, gypsum, etc.) scale? Chris

Don't know about the "mho" scale ("mighty hard objects"?), ; ) but
I can tell you that it is harder than saaay, hard maple or lignum
vitae.

As a geologist I often wonder about the hardness of everyday objects on
Moh's Hardness scale, and your typo and the resulting puzzled query really
tickled me!

It also depends on the source of the bone: which animal it has come
from, and from which particular bone in it.

I use chisels and scrapers made from old machine hacksaw blades for bone
carving, or for fine detail, made from old All-Hard HSS hand hacksaw
blades.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 10:07:30 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:

It also depends on the source of the bone: which animal it has come
from, and from which particular bone in it.

This is more a factor of the _density_ of the bone, rather than the
hardness, though. Bone is pretty hard stuff, but even in the same
animal there are dramatic differences between say, a femur shaft and a
rib or scapula. Hardness is the same, but the bone has many more
microscopic interstices, making it seem "softer," when in fact, the
rib is just much less densely packed.

Another factor is post-mortem treatment of the bone, which actually
_can_ affect the hardness of the bone itself. Boiling for too long,
for instance, can break down the bone structure, as can chemical
treatment.


--
Chuck *#:^)
chaz3913(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Anti-spam sig: please remove "NO SPAM" from e-mail address to reply.


September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

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On Thu, 09 Jun 2005 19:20:26 -0400, "Jey" jey@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:

How hard is bone on the mho (talc, gypsum, etc.) scale? Chris

Don't know about the "mho" scale ("mighty hard objects"?), ; ) but
I can tell you that it is harder than saaay, hard maple or lignum
vitae.

As a geologist I often wonder about the hardness of everyday objects on
Moh's Hardness scale, and your typo and the resulting puzzled query really
tickled me!

Happy to supply chuckles. Actually the typo was Chris's, and the
reply mine. An amusing note: I was watching an old episode of
"Friends" last night, and as you may or may not remember, the
character of Ross was a paleontologist. Despairing of his third
divorce in two years the only bright spot he could see was that the
only people below him on the "Dating Hierarchy" would be "4 divorce
guy, murder guy and, of course, geologists." It caught my ear because
my brother-in-law has a geo degree, although he works in a museum now.

--
Chuck *#:^)
chaz3913(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Anti-spam sig: please remove "NO SPAM" from e-mail address to reply.


September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

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