[Jewelry making - Article 00311] - Re: [Orchid] Bone bleaching

[Paul D. Reilly]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

    Back in my much younger years, I worked preparing skeletons for sale
    to scientific supply companies. 

    Step 1: in bone prep is to boil the bone totally clean...boiling
    water for about 1-3 hours dependant on bone quantity. 

    Step 2: degreasing: soak in Carbon tetrachloride (next to impossible
    to get a hold of these days) alternatively soak in a solution of
    TSP(tri-sodium phosphate) substitute for 1 hour-3 hours dependent on
    fat tissue in the bone and amount of bone...soak until bone removed
    from solution is evenly wetted. 

    Step 3A: Bleach in (Clorox--TM) (sodium hypochlorite solution) for
    two - six hours to get bone white...any longer and the mineral
    components go into solution. The bone comes out from this soak as
    pure white and opaque as possible. 

    OR Step 3B: soak overnight (8-12 hours) in strong (13%) hydrogen
    peroxide. This gives the bone tissue a slight transparency with a
    slightly off-white color tending towards yellow slightly. 

    Step 3-1/2: if the bone structure needs to be altered by bending,
    twisting, etc. do this while the bone is still wet for Step 3A or
    3B. 

    Step 4: Dry at least 48 hours (clamped in position if form has been
    altered) before drilling, assembly, or sealing. 

Paul
____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________