Good source of bone points = bone guitar saddles?

[toomanyknots]

I never thought of that, but my local guitar center sells bone saddle blanks for a couple bucks each. I was thinking of making some fishing points out of em, or something along those lines. Maybe some barbed points? Anybody ever thought of this?

[Dane]

Sure. You can turn bone into all sorts of neat things, including arrowheads, fishing spear heads, atlatl spurs, whatever you want. Just be sure and wear a mask or a good respirator when you work the bone. Breathing the dust is very, very bad for you. Like even lethal bad. And, it stinks! I do a lot of work with bone, and hate the working process, but love the outcomes. Dane

[Buckeye Guy]

I get all the bone I need from the critters I eat !!

[Carson (CMB)]

They are not that big, 3" x 1/2 x 1/4.  Big enough to make a pretty narrow hunting point, but too narrow to get adecent depth on a barb on it, or too short to get multiple shallow barbs.  Maybe there are bigger pieces out there.  That is just what I saw on ebay.  It could be done, just a little retrictive from a design standpoint.  Once you get the design down though, you have a source of consistent stock. 

I use elk leg bones, that I stocked up on last fall, from game processor.  I cut them out on the band saw and the natural shapes that come from different parts of the bone (resulting from cutting along ridges) give you some good ideas for all sorts of cool points. 

[Carson (CMB)]

Dane, I have heard that too about bone dust as well as feather dust, from grinding feathers.  Do you know the mechanism there?  Is it a acute mechanical thing like fiberglass getting in the lungs or a thing where repeated, prolonged exposure eventually leads to cancer.   

[dmikeyj]

I read a story on bone workers in India that noted "If you are over 50 here, you have tuberculosis."  It seems to be the most common problem from inhaling bone dust over a lifetime.  I also know bone usually has bacteria in it that can also cause problems, many different types of bacterias.  There is also a mechanical aspect to the dust, as there is with any dust, but I have not found any references to acute problems.  It seems more of a prolonged exposure thing.  Also, bone dust from sanding can be fine enough to get past your standard dustmasks as well.

Mike

[Dane]

CMB, I am not a doctor, so I can't address it in detail, but I dont take any risks, and use a respirator when working with bone. It is uncomfortable and I feel like an extra from a Mad Max movie, but no one sees me in the shop