Originally Posted by
cannonfodder
The bone was cleaned. Problem with going to the butcher shop and getting a cow bone is that it has to be cleaned. You have to cut the ends off, boil it, clean out the marrow, a soak in lye is good, boil it, dry it, and it all stinks to high heaven. Or, you could go the PetSmart and get natural beef bone dog chew toy. They are cleaned, sterilized, and ready to go. Worth the $5 in my opinion. You just have to make sure you get one that has a relatively straight side and not to thick.
I know why bone, mammoth ivory, Stag, etc is so expensive. It is not necessarily the cost of material but the cost of goods to make them. You chew up a band saw blade pretty quick, did not do the 6 inch belt sander much good either. You do a lot of sanding. You need brad point bits to drill, bullet point will want to dance on the smooth bone. They are quite unique feeling, smooth as can be after some 1000 grit paper. They almost feel like there is powder on them, but there is obviously not. I have enough left for maybe one more set, may give it another go but I need to finish up a batch of brushes and make a new razor rack first. Got a nice curly white oak board that will make a nice display rack.
The stink is not that bad. You do have to ware a respirator and run your dust collector while working the material. Horn stinks the worst by far. I have worked stag, bone and horn, horn stinks everything up. Smells like burning hair and flesh but nothing a cigar wont overcome.
I honed it up last night. Took a good edge and the steel feels good and hard. Some of these very old razors have soft steel, this one does not. Took a nice even bevel, the blade appeared to have never been honed when I got it. Essentially a rusty new old stock blade, it gets a shave test today.