Bone Carving

I have recently discovered my calling, one of them anyway. It's symbols and their meanings. There are a lot of different symbols in the world, all used by different cultures at different times. Each symbol has a meaning relevant to the culture of origin.

So, what does this have to do with bone carving? I have been into many a spiritual shop and have found that there are a lot of different symbols carved into various things from stone, crystal, to bone and wood and metal. One other thing I have found is that all the symbols from one shop can be found in the next.

Living in this world of infinite possibilities I looked at these symbols and I wondered, why aren't there more symbols with different meanings?

I have decided to start carving my own symbols (which are a mixture of all the old ones and some new creations made from blends of meaning and shape) into something, and for me, a beginner, bone seems the logical choice.

So what did I do? I went down to the butcher and asked for some cow bones, they assume I'm feeding them to a dog (I don't have a dog). They gave me a small bag full of rib bones and charged me $2, I'll have to source some free bone somewhere. So today I got them home and threw them in a big saucepan full of water and boiled them to make getting rid of the meat easier. Then I took them downstairs and poured cold water over them to cool them faster and I ripped all the meat off. There is a fair amount of fat residue left on the bone. I am leaving them out in my back yard to dry in the sun and to be picked at by living things for a couple of weeks in an attempt to clean and bleach them naturally and without chemicals.

I plan to repeat this process every week so that I have a steady supply of bone for carving.

I did find online however, a couple of forums dedicated to bone carving. There are a lot of different methods for cleaning bone and removing marrow, some include beetles, maggots, chemicals, etc. I read through the list of options and I realized that what I am attempting may not be the best way of preparing bone. This will not stop me from trying it for myself.

What I've found from the forums about my method is this, boiling the bone degrades it (not sure how detrimental it will be) and the fat will leach into the bone producing stains. The suggested methods include using vinegar (an acid which will leach calcium from the bone and is thus not the best method), soap which will remove the fat residue, and using a knife and a bottle cleaner to get the marrow out. They also suggested that instead of boiling it a better method would be to soak the bone in soap water for a few days, after scraping off as much meat as possible, then once the fatty residue is gone scrape the marrow out. There were also suggestions that taxiderists know the best methods for cleaning bone. Then there are people who eat the meat off the bones then feed to their dog, then leave in the sun for a week before using them.

I believe there is no best way, just preferred ways, I will attempt my way and see what happens and then I'll update this post or add a new one.

As for the carving of the bone itself once it is ready, I plan to simply use a knife for carving and shaping the bone. I also have a soldering iron which I will try out, not sure how effectively I can use it with bone yet but I have a sneaking suspicion that after carving base symbols into the surface of the bone I will be able to scar/char the symbols so they stand out more and look cool.

Well, anyway, I'll get back to this topic when I know more.