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I've been making my first set of bone scales the past few days. With only a dremel for power tools, I've been trying to figure out the best accessory for cutting bone. I actually found this post on the dremel message board stating that the 426 or EZ456 fiberglass reinforced wheel works best.
Whats the best disc for cutting Bone
In case it wasn't already around here... I thought other dremel owners might like to know.
IMHO the best accessory for cutting bone is coping saw.
Very fast and easy, also will make much less mess than dremel.
I have been (trying anyway) cutting scales out of actual shin bones, not slabs of bone. When considering what to use, I figured the depth and double-sided aspect of the bone would limit traditional saw abilities.
Coping saw blades generally have rather coarse teeth, but most coping saws will accept the finer-toothed blades, about 1/4in. wide, which are made for junior hacksaws. They will be faster and perhaps less inclined to chip, and they will negotiate the slight curve of a razor scale very well.
I see eBay auctions which say Federal law requires bone to receive antibacterial treatment, of what kind I don't know, before it is sold. That is why I carried out the unusual feat of importing camel bone from the UK to Saudi Arabia for the project I am working on now. I put great faith in the camel, which is also excellent to eat. Wood is best when slowly grown, and the desert isn't exactly a Chicago feed-lot.
I don't suppose there was ever much mortality among eskimos and cavemen, but their lifestyle surely kept their autoimmune systems in better trim than ours, and I wouldn't touch a bone from a carcass which had simply decayed out in the woods. I would disinfect any that had lingered around after cooking, or which exposed a porous area on the underside.
It is possible to bend (or straighten) thin pieces of bone after soaking in vinegar, or presumably other acids. There should be a disinfecting effect, too. But I have never done it, and don't know if it retains its strength, or ever returns to full rigidity again.
A Bending Bone - Science Project Ideas