hmm from what i just looked up I'd say soak em in a weak peroxide solution, not bleach, and make prolly just leave them outside for a while and let nature take care of the remaining flesh. Do not boil them however as it can leach out the calcium and make the bones brittle.

I read to do the peroxide after cleaning them

yus, I also want to see pics of what you make with this!

Recreate the pig in bone form!

My fatass dog ate some important parts.

after you clean them just leave them outside. my friend Simon does a lot of his art with real animal bones. if you're still worried about the integrity and strength after cooking, cleaning, etc you might try and reinforce it with shellac, it makes it look shiny once its dried, but I'm sure if you looked around you could find another resin that dries with a frosted finish to make it look less fake. definitely take pics though!

I'll upload it to scraps if I do, where all my photography goes.

do it.

Hmm, I read not to boil them, just let 'em sit in water and rot, basically. I'm gonna try that first, then let them dry out for a while like you said. Of course I live in Louisiana so it kinda rains a lot.

Your name has science in it so I'll beleive you.

They probably have some marrow in them, I'll go ahead and macerate them instead of boiling. They've already been cooked, like I said.

Is there enough to make a ribcage lamp? You know... just a lamp with a ribcage for the shade. Though I doubt the ribcage is intact, you could probably make a new one. Right? Isn't that how it works?

I've been asking Santa for that for the last, like... seven Christmases.

What are you going to make with your pig bones?

No, the ribs weren't in good shape. PRobably because we chewed on them a lot. Also I think the dog ate some, and even had I gotten a full ribcage the sternum was gone anyway. I don't know what I'm gonna make yet but bones are cool.

If the bones have been cooked as you said, they're going to be too brittle to make anything that will have to endure impact or bear weight, so things like sword or knife handles are out. They're also going to likely be discolored so you'll have to whiten them with something. Bleach can do it, but it's not recomended. You may want to coat them with a laquor or varnish to seal them so they dont deteriorate any further, and also to give them a polished look. If you're wanting more of a rough look you can always go over them with a medium to fine sandpaper, just remember to be light with it and not wear away any more of the bone than you need to.

Unfortunatly cooked bones are not the best for crafting with. Idealy you'd want fresh bones that have been sun-bleached and dried. You can sometimes get fresh bones from a butcher shop or slaughter house, though you may likely have to deal with them haveing a few cutmarks on them.

It'll most likely be something completely decorative, I just figured I'd try to do something with them.

In that case you'll want to be more concerned with apperance rather than strength. You'll want to get the bones as white as you can to start off with. Then if you're looking for a more natural, tarnished look you can use woodstains to color them. If you can find some waterbased wood stains that would be best since you can easily thin them out with water. If you're wanting a more wild color, any waterbased paint should work. Afterwards remember to seal them to both perserve the bones and protect the coloring from fadeing.

Speaking as someone who knows absolutely nothing about the topic, I'd use some kind of plaster to make moulds of the bones, and then use some kind of plastic-based compound to make more durable duplicates of the bones for use in craft work. Then you'd still have the moulds to make more bones to work with.