Bone For Hilt

[Ironhand]

Sorry for acting such a basic question, but a quick search didn't turn up anything. What type of bone (thigh etc.) is best for carving a hilt?

[Robert]

Cannon bone, the lower part just above the hoof. Rear leg is beter then front, slightly sturdier. There is a thread somewhere. Oh, and these are often sold in petshops as dogchews, so no problem getting them at low cost.

[Ceannt]

If you know a butcher he could get cow bone for you ( i am plaining to get some 8) ) so if you want some let us know

[Crispvs]

Here are two pictures of the handle I made for my sword.





Each piece must be made from a specific bone, due to the thickness, curvature and internal apeture of different bones.

For the grip you will need a small cannon bone with a cross section of no more than an inch at its narrowest point, as a bone any bigger than this will probably have an internal space which is too large for you to successfully make a grip from it.
In the photo below you can see the nocks from four bones I have tried out.



It is important to realise that these are all from cows' cannon bones. The one on the bottom left is the nock from the one I actually used to carve my grip from. This should give you a good idea of what shape to look for when trying to select a bone. The other three nocks are all from cannon bones which turned out to be too large, the wrong shape (front and back legs have different secions) or which were damaged (I accidentally boiled one bone dry and it cracked down its length).
Simply going to a pet shop and getting a piece of bone wil not be a guarantee of a suitable piece as sections of femur are often sold in pet shops as well and these are not suitable for grips.

The various parts of my handle are made from the following bones:

Guard: a large cannon bone which turned out to be much too large for a grip. The plugs in the ends are made from pieces of shank bone.

Grip: the central section of a small cannon bone

Pommell: the drum is made from a section of femur and the caps at top and bottom are made from shank bone (the shank being the only bone which has reasonably flat bone of a good thickness.

To achieve a good fit I filled the pommel with a piece of wood which was then sealed inside before the pommel was drilled and and the hole widened for the tang. I t may also be necessary to insert splints into the inside of the grip to achieve a good secure fit to the tang.

I hope this helps a bit.

Crispvs