How to clean and bleach bone?

[Titus Aetius]

Hello all,

Some days ago, someone gave me a bone of a cow, wich has still some remains of meat and of course the marrow inside. It's in my freezer right now. I would like to use it as a grip for my gladius; but first I have to clean it. Now is my question: how do I have to clean it in order that it becomes white? Boiling it isn't an option I think, because it would turn yellow. Putting it in my backyard isn't either, because than the bone will become porous.

Thanks in advance,

[munazio planco]

ave


I do like this,first I boil a lot the bone whit many many salt(that trow out the fat from the bone) and after you have to put the bone in the oxigen water (this for the disinfection)for one night.

the bone will be white like milk!

vale

[Titus Aetius]

Salve,

Aha, thank you for the information.
I shall let you know the result.

Valete,

[Crispvs]

I boil my bones for five or six hours in a large pot. During this time the marrow and much of the fat and oil will come out of the bone and it is important to change the water several times to stop this being absorbed back into the bone. I then leave them to dry for a few days in a warm dry place (or at least, a place which is not too cold). Make sure you scrape off as much of the meat and sinew as you can with a sharp knife before you start to boil the bones. It will only be more stuff to boil off and potentially discolour the bone with. If the nocks have been removed (and it is a good ideal to do this before boiling the bone) you may be able to cut much of the marrow out of the bone with a sharp knife before you boil it, which will reduce the time you need to boil all of the oil and fat out of the bone. If it looks as if all the fat etc has not left the bone after you have left it to dry for a day or two, do not be too afraid to boil it up again but whatever you do, do not let it boil dry. One other thing - boiling bone is a somewhat smelly process so if you have a wife with a weak stomach it may be best to wait until she goes away for a few days.

Your bone should not become too porous if it is not left outside for too long and is not left in sustained damp conditions. Most professional bone carvers I have spoken to have told me that they bleach their bones by leaving them for two or three weeks on the roofs of their sheds or on shelves outside to bleach in the sun. Of course, in bleaching the bones in this manner they are trying to achieve the white colouring that most people associate with bone. I know of no evidence to suggest however, that the Romans felt that this was important. In any case, even if you do succeed in whitening your bone, in time you will find that it will take on colouration through use. This is normal as bone is porous in any case and your grip will gradually absorb the natural oils present in your hand, along with any other oils or fats which find their way onto your hand. Because of this the colour will gradually change from white (probably unevenly) to reflect the colouration it picks up though use. Do not be disappointed by this when you see it happening - it will mean that your grip is becoming more like the actual ones probably would have been.

The picture below shows my sword handle shortly after I made it (and prior to it becoming discoloured by whatever it picks up from my hand, along with dicolouration from rubbing against my armour and my sometimes oily forearm).


I have a question. Which bone are you using? You need to use the rear cannon bone of a calf. Any other bone will be the wrong shape or size. Even if it is a cannon bone, if it is from an adult it will be too large and if it is from a foreleg it will have the wrong cross section. If your bone still retains its nocks, look at the upper nock (the one not divided into two). It should look like the nock at the lower left of this photo. This is the nock of the bone I used for my own grip. The nocks in the photo are all from bones I experimented with before finding the right one. The nock on the upper left is from an adult's hind leg and the two on the right are from forelegs. The forelegs have a 'D' section, whereas the hind legs have a round or roughly square section with a small internal space which makes them ideal for this use.


If your bone turns out to be from a foreleg or is too big, don't panic. The guard of my handle is made from the cannon bone of an adult's foreleg.

I hope this helps.

Crispvs

[Titus Aetius]

Dear Crispus,

That is one very nice gladius handle!
However, I only aspire to make the grip out of bone, the guard and pommel will consist of wood.

I don't know wheter it's a fore- or backleg from a cow. It's from an adult animal. I will first clean it as much as possible with a knife, than saw of the nocks, remove as much marrow as I can and than boil it, like you said. I don't have a wife, so that won't be a problem. I plan to use an old pot instead of using my all-day cooking pots. But it will take a while, because for the moment, I do not have enough time to take care of it.
I do not exclude the fact that it will be too large to cut a grip out of it, but before I know that for sure, I have to remove the meat an sinew first.

My armour is also full of oil (it's mail), so I am aware of the effects that has on as good as everything that you're carrying :roll:

Thank you very much for the information,

[Crispvs]

Thanks for the compliment.

You can tell fairly easily if the bone is from a foreleg or a hind leg by looking at the upper nock. If you look at the photograph I posted above, you will see that both of the hind leg nocks have a roughly 'T' shaped impression in them and a more or less straight edge, while the foreleg nocks have an indentation in the longer side.

When you go the cut off the nocks, be careful of where you cut. In order to make use of the thickest good quality bone possible at each end of the grip, you need to cut the upper nock off a couple of millimetres below the little blood vessel hole in the top side of the bone. Measure about nine centimetres from this point and then cut off the lower (divided) nock. Make sure you make both of these cuts as straight as you can. Actual grips vary in length between about seven and a half centimetres (3 inches) and about nine centimetres (3 5/8 inches) in length. By cutting a section nine centimetres long you will be able to remove any bone which is too thin or too porous (it is always more porous towards the nock ends, particularly the lower nock) without compromising the length. Most surviving grips seem to be about the eight centimetre (3 1/4 inch) length. You will find that the internal aperture is better at the upper nock end than the lower nock end for the fitting of the sword tang and so you are more likely to find yourself cutting bone away from the lower end than the upper end. You may need to widen the internal aperture slightly in the middle of the bone, as it can become very narrow at that point.

If your bone does turn out to be too big by the way, don't worry too much - there will be plenty of other projects you can make use of it in.


All the best with the project. I am happy to help if you need anything further.

Crispvs