Step by step African elephant in bone

[Ron T]

Originally Posted by carver6

First off, let me add the bone carving looks great. Now you're going to cause me to have to try it. Another excuse to buy more tools. I do have one question. What, if anything, do you put on the bone as a finish? Can you leave it bare or does it need a varnish or some other type of protection? Also, is anything needed to prepare a bone for carving other than letting it dry. Thanks for posting your carving. My wife collects elephant figurines so now I'll need to try one of these for her.
Garon

Garon, thank you for your comments. The good thing about bone carving as you don't need different tools if you already have a Dremel. Oops, actually you need a lot of new tools (in case your wife is reading your posts). LOL!

A friend of mine set me a Kiss for step emery board that has four different grits. The last one is for polishing and that is what gives the shine on the bone. Actually, if the bone is too highly polished, it almost looks like plastic.

If I were getting the bone from the butcher, I would boil it a couple of times, adding a little bleach in the final boil and then let it dry out. It is a lot easier purchasing one from the pet store.

I was at my sister-in-law's house and saw the dog's bone on the floor. I was going to take it but it looked kind of disgusting with all the teeth marks on it so I went and bought one.

[Ron T]

Originally Posted by chpster90bu

Ron....I agree with Sean completely. I think you can tell by now that we all appreciate any form of carving or whittling, no matter what the medium. Instead of giving up on carving, you have chosen to try the power and are doing a fantastic job of it. Your little elephant is outstanding and I love it! Looking forward to seeing some more little creations. Keep up the good work. Bonnie

Bonnie, thank you so much for your very supportive comments. What I am finding so great about power carving is I just have to hold the hand piece and the burrs removed the material. It does remove material very quickly so a great deal of care has to be taken when doing the detail. Also, you can never achieve the level of detail with power tools that you can using knives, gouges and dental picks.

[Ron T]

Thank you Dicky.

Thank you Claude.

[Dicky]

Hi Ron, I certainly agree with your comments about a high shine finish on bone. My last few have been toned down somewhat. What I really find interesting is that once people pick them up, they are loath to put them down. I don't know if it is because they are organic and always feel cool to the touch or if it is a deeper primal connection. If somebody knows, please chime in.

[Mark Dellinger]

Ron,

looking Good. Thanks for sharing.

Safe Carving and God Bless,

Mark

[Mark Dellinger]

Ron,

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

Safe carving and God Bless,

Mark