Large bone blanks

[fishtownmike]

Anyone know a source of large bone blanks. I'm looking for something about 5" long 3/8" thick by 1" tall. I'm experimenting on bridge materials for one piece bridges for F and A style mandos....Mike

[Mario Proulx]

The pet store!

Really

Any good pet store should carry large, sterilized bones; these are great for points, saddles, nuts, anything. Hard, sterile, and de-fatted. Cheap, too.

[Michael Lewis]

You may have to look a long while to find a bone that will yield 5" X 3/8" X 1".

[fishtownmike]

The pet store!

Really

Any good pet store should carry large, sterilized bones; these are great for points, saddles, nuts, anything. Hard, sterile, and de-fatted. Cheap, too.

Thanks i didn't think of that.

[Mario Proulx]

You may have to look a long while to find a bone that will yield 5" X 3/8" X 1".

Yeah, that is big! I hadn't quite grasped the size at first blush. Might have to settle for a tow piece bridge, but with a bit of luck, a one piece blank may be found.

[David Collins]

Yeah, that's pretty big to expect to get a straight piece at those dimensions after cutting and cleaning. I get cattle and buffalo bone from my local butcher, and though it may sound silly, I do seem to find thicker walls on this local stuff that's free-range, grass fed, than most bones I find in the pet store. Don't know if the end quality is any different, but I feel I get better yield (plus I'm at the butchers often, and never seem to get around to going to the pet store).

It's not really any more work than pet store bones, so long as you stock up 6 months to a year in advance. This way you can leave it buried or strung up outside and let nature do all the cleaning for you. Then a final quick boil to make sure it's sterile, and a soak in white gas to ensure it's well degreased, and it's ready to go.

That's still a pretty big piece. Maybe you should check out these folks on ebay.

http://stores.ebay.com/WORLDWIDE-WIL...0Q2em14?_pgn=2

They sell a lot of camel and giraffe bones - looks like a giraffe scapula could deliver what you need (assuming the center's not a wide pocket of marrow - I've never cut up a scapula).

[Lefty Luthier]

Once upon a time, long ago, I chanced on a dead elephant at our local rendering works, owned a meat packing plant at the time, and was able to get a foreleg bone. That yielded some pretty wide slabs of solid bone. So you might make friends with your local rendering works and keep in touch. You never know when a rhino, giraffe, or elephant will croak in your area.

[nvanlaar]

You never know when a rhino, giraffe, or elephant will croak in your area.

That would be one of the last things I would imagine reading here...

[Paul Hostetter]

I've stumbled on human bone. Finding an elephant femur isn't so outrageous. But hoping to find a bone at the butcher (forget the pet store) large enough to yield a piece that's 5" X 3/8" X 1" is beyond outrageous. Good luck!

[Michael Lewis]

Ivory can be cut to that size, if you can find some. I only use walrus ivory now, and it has to be obtained from the Native People of the area where walrus are found. You might find some old mastodon or mammoth tusk, but that stuff is so old it may not be structurally sound. (get it? sound!)

[Paul Hostetter]

For a bridge blank, I would recommend laminating (with epoxy or CA) a blank from multiple pieces of bone. I personally think bone is a lousy bridge material, it's heavy and sucks sound. But you need to pursue this to know for yourself whether it'll work for you or not. Trying to find a one-piece chunk is a waste of time. Get some of the Saga 1/4" blanks (good quality) and make it up, and go from there.

[j. condino]

Lefty's elephant BBQ....

Mammoth ivory. Thanks to global warming and the poor global economy, the market is almost flooded with it. Your best bet would be to buy a chunk about the size of a beer can, cut out the sweet spot and then you can sell off the extra and recoup all of your money, and regularly a lot more. For a big piece, I'd try to use more of the harder outer bark than the core.

Anytime there is one of the big jem shows in larger cities, you can usually find a lot of it available. I would also suggest looking into the folks that sell pistol and knife grips. They are readily available in dimensions close to what you are looking for. The last time I got a good supply of mammoth ivory, it was a box of offcuts from someone who specialized in pistol grips.

Guns, knives and mandolins- just a regular day at the playground in North Carolina...

j.
www.condino.com

[j. condino]

Here is an ivory adjustable bridge and pickguard on an F4 made by the late Ted Davis. I think that is a seasonal shim under the bass side.





Before you go to all of the work to make a one piece bridge out of bone or ivory, I'd suggest making just an ivory saddle on a traditional adjustable bridge first. You can make one out of a 1/4" thick guitar saddle blank- about a $5 part:




j.
www.condino.com

[Paul Hostetter]

But he was talking about making a one-piece bridge.

All that ivory looks pretty sexy.

[Schlegel]

Ivory can be cut to that size, if you can find some. I only use walrus ivory now, and it has to be obtained from the Native People of the area where walrus are found. You might find some old mastodon or mammoth tusk, but that stuff is so old it may not be structurally sound. (get it? sound!)

The walrus or fossil ivory is both finer grained and lighter than bone. I like them. I have a mammoth bridge on my favorite bowlback. Although it's really quite small.

[Mario Proulx]

hoping to find a bone at the butcher (forget the pet store) large enough to yield a piece that's 5" X 3/8" X 1" is beyond outrageous.

Outrageous indeed.... Guess they don't have big dogs in your neighborhood? I just opened my drawer, picked up a pet shop bone, and sliced it up. Not one, but two pieces would yield me a one piece bridge.

Instead of discouraging someone with your condescending remarks or misinformation, it'd be best to remain quiet at times.

[Paul Hostetter]

Jeez, Mario. Having a bad day?

[David Houchens]

I've found plenty of bone at my local pet supply that would be big enough as well. Them some big dogs we got down here. Big'ns I say.

[Paul Hostetter]

Maybe they're not allowed in California.

[buddyellis]

You can probably get a cow femur from your local butcher that you can process and saw out a proper sized piece if you're lucky.

I've documented how I do it here: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=47289

Really, its not that hard at all, you just need to make sure and get all the fat off of the bone and avoid the spongy areas of the femur (they're not hard enough, obviously, and they also tend to store oil)

[Paul Hostetter]

I've done it hundreds of times over the last 40-some years. I just don't see pieces big enough to make 1-piece versions of two-piece adjustable bridges very often. Or even simple one-piece bridges.

I do see giraffe bone on eBay once in awhile.



A bit pricey though.

Buddy, I prepare bone pretty much exactly as you do. No bleach.

[fishtownmike]

Thanks everyone for the tips.

[Mario Proulx]

Paul! You've lost weight?

; )

[Paul Hostetter]

Actually, I haven't—the bone is really, really big.

[Dale Ludewig]

Okay guys, you're cracking me up. And you could add an r at the end of the word and we'd be into another wealth of entertainment that is not mandolin related.