Objects make from bone were an integral part of everyday life during the time period of interest to the SCA. They could be as plainly functional as a pin or as ornately decorative as carved mounts on a casket. A simple pin can have a bird’s head carved at the top; a simple comb can be decorated with circles, lines, and runes; a simple knife handle can be carved with a running dog. Even the smallest bone item can be, and usually was, ornamented in some manner.

  When working with bone (or with antler which has a similar morphology), it is helpful to be aware of certain processes which make it easier to go from that fresh bone just removed from a pork roast to a completed object such as a set of dice. This article is based on knowledge gained from personal experience in working with bone. It assumes the use of hand tools rather than power tools.

Sources and Types

  Usable-sized pieces of pork, beef, lamb, and turkey bones are all readily available from store-bought meat, both fresh or processed as in smoked ham. To obtain whole bones or a quantity of bones, however, you need to contact a local meat-processing place. Whale shoulder bone would be the bone of choice for several projects such as an “ironing board” or an axe, but this is a wee bit difficult to obtain. Pet stores are a good source for clean beef leg bones, the whole ones making excellent ready-to-wear ice skates.

      Use long leg bones for such things as pins, needles, and spoons.
      Use thick-walled bones for dice, belt buckles, and strap ends.
      Use shoulder blades for combs, weaving tablets, and axes.
      Use bird leg bones (turkey, goose, swan, etc.) for flutes and needle cases.

Initial Preparation

      

1. Remove as much meat as possible from the fresh bone.
      
2. Boil the bone until the remaining meat, tendons, etc., are falling off, making sure that the water covers the bone at all times. Run ventilation fans and/or open windows! (Do not bake the bone as baking makes the bone more brittle.)
      
3. Allow the bone to cool to the point where it can be handled.
      
4. Trim off all remaining bits of cartilage, gristle, and exposed marrow with a knife.
      
5. For hollow bird bones, clean out marrow with files.
      
6. Scrub the bone under hot running water with a scrubbing pad.
      
7. Allow the cleaned bone to air-dry.
      
8. Repeat steps 2 to 6 if flies are showing too much interest.

Rough Shaping

      

1. Use dry bone to saw. Wet bone is more difficult as it quickly gums up the saw teeth.
      
2. Use a fine-toothed saw to shape the bone as close as possible to its final shape. (Fine-toothed saws are available at hobby stores.)

Fine Shaping

      

1. Use wet bone to cut with a knife. If the bone has totally dried out, soak it for a day or so in water. If the bone dries out as you are working it, let it soak again for a while until it is easy to cut again.
      
2. Use a very sharp knife, such as an X-acto knife, to shape the bone to its final form.
      
3. Always wear some sort of thumb guard to protect the thumb you are carving towards. Leather quilting thimbles work well, but a simple leather guard can easily be sewn. Make sure it covers most of the thumb.

Finishing

      

1. Bone can be worked very finely with a knife. As it is worked, it will also become smoother due to the oils from the carver’s fingers.
      
2. Use dry bone to sand or file.
      
3. Use an emery board, file, or sandpaper to finish off any last rough edges or to sharpen the point on a needle.

Carving Surface Designs

      

1. Incise the lines of the surface design using a sharp knife on wet bone. If it is difficult to see the lines, use a pencil or let the bone dry out a little.
      
2. Widen the lines by scraping along the lines using the edge of a knife, a nail, or some other like object on dry bone. This makes it possible to carefully control the degree of bone removal.
      
3. If desired, use one of the historical methods of enhancing the carving:
      a. paint the lines.
      b. differentiate the background from the pattern with cross-hatching or other fillers

What To Make

The following items are documented at various times from the Roman period to the Renaissance.

Toiletry Articles - comb, comb case, mirror case, brush backing, ear scoop, tweezers, combination ear scoop/tweezers

Personal Articles - button, belt buckle, strap end, spectacle frame, ring, bead

Textile Implements - pin, pin beater, needle, needle case, shuttle, bobbin, weaving tablet (square and triangular), spindle whorl, rigid heddle, weaving comb, ironing board, lucet knitting tool, weaving sword.

Tools - knife handle, sword hilt, dagger hilt, sword quillon, dagger quillon, axe head, spoon, strainer, awl, pick, bucket handle, pottery stamp, toggle, line winder, line stretcher, part of a key, hinge, coin balance, apple corer/cheese scoop, cleaver, door-sneck, cleaver

Musical Instruments - flute, whistle, parts such as tuning peg and tail-piece

Pastimes - dice, gaming piece, ice skate

Miscellaneous - box/casket mount, figurine, prayer amulet, holder for straightening metal pins, seal matrix, writing tablet, stylus

    The very best reference on this subject is Arthur MacGregor, Bone, Antler, Ivory, and Horn: The Technology of Skeletal Materials Since the Roman Period, published by Barnes and Noble, 1985. Not only does it provide clear information on the morphology of each type of material, it gives excellent dated examples of many of the uses to which bone was put.