Handle material advice needed

[cwiehle0]

Originally Posted by Crex

Thanks CW, didn't mean to side track your post, just thought you might like to see some examples of what native species can look like. The oak one had more burl showing on the other side, but can't find a pic of it and the knife is a resident of Seattle now.

Chris, the leg bones are almost a "natural" for handles. The centerhole is kidney shaped most of the time and just takes a little tang manipulation to get them to fit. You have the right size deer up there. Most of my bigger handles come from Nebraska deer. Not enough GA deer get that big. I age them in my compost pile.....let the bugs do the work of cleaning and staining. Just cover with wire, as dogs and yotes like to steal them.

My best friend is a taxidermist, nobody really brings him legs though. I missed this whole hunting season, a leg bone might give me a little more of a push to get out next year, I'm out of venison anyway. Thanks, I'll have to start doing some research here on how to use bones as handle material.
C

[Crex]

If you don't have time to hunt, go by one of the numerous mom/pop processing operations and ask for the bigger bones. If you do get a deer there are 6 to 8 potential handles (size dependent). The compost pile will clean and degrease the outside of the bones.....no effort on your part. Just bury deep. The marrow on the inside may be stubborn but you can boil it out if necessary later or cut them in half before composting.
Once clean you'll be able to see just how easy they are to use.

[ckluftinger]

The compost is great advice, Carl. I'm working on a bone handle right now, and I enlisted my Golden Retriever for help. Gave her the bone (big femur) for a few weeks to clean up. She didn't mind. It's so clean I didn't even have to wash it. She sucked all the marrow out and cleaned off every scrap of tissue. If I get my hands on a deer leg I'll try the compost (my dog would probably eat it). Back in the old country the hunters would bury the deer head in an ant hill to get the skull and antlers clean.

[Crex]

Chris
I've used ants before, they do a great job but don't leave that bacterial motley staining I like. I have experimented with copper, aluminum, iron dust to get "color" influences, but none had much effect during the composting process.
Neighbor's badgerdog, used to sneak under the fence and steal mine. They are real diggers, so I wound up staking some chicken wire over the area before covering back up. Made him a little nuts but he finally gave it up. Now the Yotes have moved in the area so I had to go to hardware cloth. Ground red pepper usually works until a heavy rain.
Save the big end joints even if they are cut off short. They make good two piece handles and pommels.
That smaller knife's handle is the larger tarsal bone that allows the deer to somewhat articulate it's toes for better traction in different terrains.