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Thread: Bone Nut

  1. #1
    Eschews Obfuscation mugbucket's Avatar
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    Default Bone Nut

    Please tell me what kind of bone is used in the construction of the nut next to the tuners. Really - I don't know.

    Thanks!

    Ski
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  2. #2
    Registered User Max Girouard's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    The nuts I use are from beef or buffalo.

  3. #3
    Eschews Obfuscation mugbucket's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    Thanks Max.

    Skull, shoulder, rib? How are they prepared for use?
    Despite the high cost of living, it still remains popular...

  4. #4
    Registered User Max Girouard's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    I think most of them come from the larger leg bones of the animal. The buffalo nuts come from either the bone or the horn. I buy mine already processed but I have heard that they are sometimes boiled and soaked in a white gas solution to defat them. If you do a search on the forum, there are several people whom have made their own using various methods including the boil and gas method. I have also read that some people use those pet store bones.

  5. #5
    Café habitué Paul Hostetter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    The buffalo nuts come from either the bone or the horn.
    Well...this statement could be misleading.

    1) horn is not bone, and no one seriously uses horn for a nut material anyway. I know you can buy it, but it's not generally used, for good reason. It's too soft.

    2) the only commercially viable buffalo is water buffalo from SE Asia. Not the hapless American bison, which has extremely thin bones.

    All the commercially prepared bone is from legs. There's nothing in ribs or other part of the skeleton that are worth bothering with. Virtually all of it comes from dealers in China, and the original sources include sheep, swine, all manner of bovines, and some larger bone sources from Africa you probably don't want to know about. Suffice to say most is from bovines.

    Consult the archives for details on preparing bone for use in musical instrument parts. It's not entirely simple.
    .
    ph

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  6. #6
    Eschews Obfuscation mugbucket's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    Thanks folks!

    The miser in me is weeping as I was hoping for a home grown fix - bugs me to pay more in shipping than what is being shipped costs...

    Oh well.

    Appreciate the info.

    Ski
    Despite the high cost of living, it still remains popular...

  7. #7

    Default Re: Bone Nut

    Hi Ski, I just ordered two bone nuts on ebay. They cost $2.00 a piece. Got them yesterday and they are very nice. It's not an expensive proposition. Note: these are blanks which is what you want.

  8. #8
    Café habitué Paul Hostetter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    Ski - use that search field at the top of the page on the right, and check the archives on this. Making nuts from scratch, from bones from the butcher, is really easy.
    .
    ph

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  9. #9
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    Even easier for bulk than the butcher... just get a real bone from you local pet store. I have little dogs but with the size of that mine likes you can prob make 15-20 nuts or bridge tops. I would imagine it best to wear some sort of mask when grinding down. You don't want to breathe that stuff.
    Jim

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  10. #10
    Eschews Obfuscation mugbucket's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    Cool!

    Thanks again...

    Ski
    Despite the high cost of living, it still remains popular...

  11. #11
    Registered User shawnee creek's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    My barber raises cattle, when one dies he leaves it lay out in the field for about six months and after the buzzards are through with it he brings me the femurs Mike

  12. #12
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    cows shin bones are the best for stuff like that
    you'll have nice, long and thick pieces of bones with pretty much equal density.
    I used them for making rhythm bones, these are just the best made out of those bones.
    another thing if you'd like to cure the bone yourself
    get rid of the marrow,
    you can heat it, but don't boil it - bones became fragile after heated over 130 degree C.
    when I was experimenting with boiling
    bones that I've used seemed like they've changed they structure.
    white gas is very good to defat them, all you need is to put the bones in it for 24hrs.
    after that is time for saws and grinders
    have fun ;-)

  13. #13
    Registered User Rolfe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    I like moose bone, but like Paul said about the bison, there are few bones in that massive animal thick enough. Once in a while I can get a piece big enough for a saddle. I have a friend who knows a butcher who renders moose that hunters have brought in. Possession of moose bone used to be illegal in Maine, but that changed when some jewelry makers discovered what a smooth dense bone it is.
    Rolfe Gerhardt

  14. #14
    Café habitué Paul Hostetter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    So did the jewelry makers lobby the legislature to change the law?
    .
    ph

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  15. #15
    Registered User Rolfe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    Yep. And no moose showed up to testify against it.
    Rolfe Gerhardt

  16. #16
    Café habitué Paul Hostetter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    Man, them meese oughtta get more organized!
    .
    ph

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  17. #17
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    Quote Originally Posted by Max Girouard View Post
    The nuts I use are from beef or buffalo.

    Wonder how the beef and buffalo feel about it?

  18. #18
    Registered User Rob Grant's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    FWIW: Save a lot of drama and get yourself an off-cut of that synthetic marble countertop material (marcata??). Ok, it's not bone and it ain't natural, but it works a treat and you don't have to stuff about with the natural faults that occur with shell or bone.

    I've made nuts with natural cow bone, dugong rib, ebony and pearl. I can't say that any of these "natural" materials are really much better soundwise than the hard sythetics.
    Rob Grant
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  19. #19
    Ursus Mandolinus Fretbear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bone Nut

    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Grant View Post
    I've made nuts with natural cow bone, dugong rib, ebony and pearl. I can't say that any of these "natural" materials are really much better sound-wise than the hard synthetics.
    I have to agree with Rob, I am very particular about my tone, and I have found the black Graphtec nuts (now "Black Tusq XL") to make an excellent mandolin nut, with a warm full sound.
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