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Posted 13 years agoHey there Bone Collectors!
We're looking to build up our gallery a bit and I just personally don't have anything new in the education department. I figured it might be a good time to put out a request for members to add their own collections to the gallery.
If you have anything you'd like to add just send us a link to the photo, and we'll get it up. Just make sure in your description you let everyone know what exactly you have.
And maybe more importantly, if you're using any methods to clean bones we'd love to have some "Before/After" shots of cleaned bones. So if you're getting ready to whiten some bones, or degrease some skulls, pull out the camera and take some shots!
I think within the next week I'm also going to start a "Catalog" of bone crafters so showcase artists who work with bones to create unique pieces of art, so they can easily be found by potential customers, and art fans alike.
[EDIT]
We'll be featuring collection submission in our main gallery for one or 2 days, then they will be moved to the "Scraps" section, so that users can easily find reference/tutorials, since we've had a lot of people add theirs to the lot :>
Thanks for the participation!
We're looking to build up our gallery a bit and I just personally don't have anything new in the education department. I figured it might be a good time to put out a request for members to add their own collections to the gallery.
If you have anything you'd like to add just send us a link to the photo, and we'll get it up. Just make sure in your description you let everyone know what exactly you have.
And maybe more importantly, if you're using any methods to clean bones we'd love to have some "Before/After" shots of cleaned bones. So if you're getting ready to whiten some bones, or degrease some skulls, pull out the camera and take some shots!
I think within the next week I'm also going to start a "Catalog" of bone crafters so showcase artists who work with bones to create unique pieces of art, so they can easily be found by potential customers, and art fans alike.
[EDIT]
We'll be featuring collection submission in our main gallery for one or 2 days, then they will be moved to the "Scraps" section, so that users can easily find reference/tutorials, since we've had a lot of people add theirs to the lot :>
Thanks for the participation!
Bone Collecting 101 : Dos and Don'ts
Posted 13 years agoWe will definitely be adding to this list as we work on our reference sections. As for right now I'm only going to add quite obvious "rules" to bone collecting/cleaning, Only because I'm pretty much writing this off the top of my head. ADMINS! This is where I need help. Feel FREE to add to this/edit any information that might not be correct. And Members, If you have anything to say, feel free to share information!
- Clean and sanitize any bones you find outside, even if you don't want them to be bright white. It's important to make sure for sanitation purposes to clean items you bring indoors. Remember: bones were once part of a living animal that has died and rotted. Bacteria and microbes will be present.
-Always wear rubber gloves when handling uncleaned bones! You never know what microbes and other things are lurking in the tissues of dead animals. It is still important to wear rubbers when handling "fresh" dead animals (roadkill and whatnot) as diseases may still be present.
- Know the legal status of your bones. Although it's doubtful anyone online will successfully report you, (it sure isn't our, as admins, business what you do.) you should recognize that some things are illegal to own in certain areas. We aren't saying you should throw something out. Just be wary about what you flaunt around. A general list for the United States can be found HERE
- When cleaning skulls take photos of the teeth! Once they start to fall out you'll thank yourself when you have a starting point to work from when you put the teeth back in their places. White Elmer's glue works perfect to put the teeth back in.
- Whiten bones with 3% peroxide (or if you're getting really serious, Basic White hair bleach & 40 volume mixing cream- which are available at beauty supply stores, and require heat to activate), oxiclean (without chlorine!), or natural sunlight! These methods will not damage your bones.
- When letting bones macerate, or decay using insects, PROTECT THEM FROM RODENTS! (This one is from jesie) Rodents are omnivores and part of the natural decomposition cycle. If you want insects to eat at your bones cut small holes in the containers the size of a pen or pencil. If a mouse can get it's head in, it can get it's body through.
- Always wear gloves when working with "dirty" bones. You never know what germs/bacteria/microbes might be present.
- Always take the extra step to degrease your bones. Grease left in bones can cause stains and bad odors.
- DON'T BOIL! Boiling bones will cause oils to seep into the bone and cause stains that might bot come out, even if you degrease the bones!
- DON'T BLEACH Chlorine eats calcium and will cause bones to become brittle and frail!
- Don't macerate indoors! Unless you have a room with a good ventilation system and live alone you should not do this indoors. Rotting flesh STINKS! Just take it outside.
- Don't fully submerge deer skulls (with antlers) in peroxide or Oxiclean solutions! This will strip the colour out of the antlers, there is "Antler Stain" available, but why give yourself more hassle?
Again. This list is VERY short... So if anyone has anything to add, please share! We're here to educate, but I for one am only experienced. Not an expert.
DOs- Clean and sanitize any bones you find outside, even if you don't want them to be bright white. It's important to make sure for sanitation purposes to clean items you bring indoors. Remember: bones were once part of a living animal that has died and rotted. Bacteria and microbes will be present.
-Always wear rubber gloves when handling uncleaned bones! You never know what microbes and other things are lurking in the tissues of dead animals. It is still important to wear rubbers when handling "fresh" dead animals (roadkill and whatnot) as diseases may still be present.
- Know the legal status of your bones. Although it's doubtful anyone online will successfully report you, (it sure isn't our, as admins, business what you do.) you should recognize that some things are illegal to own in certain areas. We aren't saying you should throw something out. Just be wary about what you flaunt around. A general list for the United States can be found HERE
- When cleaning skulls take photos of the teeth! Once they start to fall out you'll thank yourself when you have a starting point to work from when you put the teeth back in their places. White Elmer's glue works perfect to put the teeth back in.
- Whiten bones with 3% peroxide (or if you're getting really serious, Basic White hair bleach & 40 volume mixing cream- which are available at beauty supply stores, and require heat to activate), oxiclean (without chlorine!), or natural sunlight! These methods will not damage your bones.
- When letting bones macerate, or decay using insects, PROTECT THEM FROM RODENTS! (This one is from jesie) Rodents are omnivores and part of the natural decomposition cycle. If you want insects to eat at your bones cut small holes in the containers the size of a pen or pencil. If a mouse can get it's head in, it can get it's body through.
- Always wear gloves when working with "dirty" bones. You never know what germs/bacteria/microbes might be present.
- Always take the extra step to degrease your bones. Grease left in bones can cause stains and bad odors.
DON'Ts- DON'T BOIL! Boiling bones will cause oils to seep into the bone and cause stains that might bot come out, even if you degrease the bones!
- DON'T BLEACH Chlorine eats calcium and will cause bones to become brittle and frail!
- Don't macerate indoors! Unless you have a room with a good ventilation system and live alone you should not do this indoors. Rotting flesh STINKS! Just take it outside.
- Don't fully submerge deer skulls (with antlers) in peroxide or Oxiclean solutions! This will strip the colour out of the antlers, there is "Antler Stain" available, but why give yourself more hassle?
Again. This list is VERY short... So if anyone has anything to add, please share! We're here to educate, but I for one am only experienced. Not an expert.
Bone Collecting 101 : Basics of Maceration
Posted 13 years agoI'm going to try to get photo documentation/tutorials together for many methods in bone cleaning but until I can compile all the proper information we'll be sharing text information. Here we'll go over the basics for Maceration. If you have any questions please leave them below and someone will get back to you as soon as we can. :>
Maceration is a method of controlled decomposition of flesh using water (and sometimes enzyme boosters) to remove tissue from bones. This is done using a seal-able container and fresh warm water (NOT HOT!). There is already bacteria present on any dead tissue so you do not need to add any enzyme boosters, although if you do it will help the process go a bit quicker. You will want to do this outside because as you may know, dead things smell. When you macerate bones you are basically making dead soup. Depending on the size of the animal, and how much flesh you remove this may take from one week to a month.
Another way you can speed the process up is by adding a water heater and air-stone to your tub. You will need a tub large enough to hold your specimen with a lid to cover it. If you have had fish tanks in the past and have an air pump and water heater lying around, you want the heater to be set at around 40° C. Water heaters are designed to turn off once the water temperature is at it's desired heat, and turn back on as the water cools. This is not necessary if you do this outdoors in the summer time. (actually if you live is warm climates you should set this up in the shade, too much heat can cause the oils in the flesh to seep into the bones causing stains) The air pump will help to agitate the water and remove flesh mechanically as the grip weakens.
When you start you will have to skin and flesh the animal removing as much of the meat as you can. The more you take off the quicker the process. Once you set the animal in the water and seal it you'll have to change the water out every 2 days. When working with smaller animals (If you want the entire skeleton) it's a good idea to pour the water out through a fine strainer so you don't loose any small bones. (If you have a garden, the water you dump is actually great fertilizer rich in nitrates) Keep refilling the container and changing out the water for at least a week until the remaining flesh is weak enough to "fall off the bone"
After you're done with the maceration process you'll want to clean ans sanitize your bones. Clean them using a tooth brush and dawn dish soap, and soak them in ammonia to kill off any remaining bacteria. DO NOT USE BLEACH! Bleach will eat away at calcium and will make your bones brittle, on skulls it can make them fall apart.
This method also works well with dry bones that have hard dried "jerky" still attached.
If anyone is actually macerating anything at the moment we'd love some pictures to add to the gallery.
MacerationMaceration is a method of controlled decomposition of flesh using water (and sometimes enzyme boosters) to remove tissue from bones. This is done using a seal-able container and fresh warm water (NOT HOT!). There is already bacteria present on any dead tissue so you do not need to add any enzyme boosters, although if you do it will help the process go a bit quicker. You will want to do this outside because as you may know, dead things smell. When you macerate bones you are basically making dead soup. Depending on the size of the animal, and how much flesh you remove this may take from one week to a month.
Another way you can speed the process up is by adding a water heater and air-stone to your tub. You will need a tub large enough to hold your specimen with a lid to cover it. If you have had fish tanks in the past and have an air pump and water heater lying around, you want the heater to be set at around 40° C. Water heaters are designed to turn off once the water temperature is at it's desired heat, and turn back on as the water cools. This is not necessary if you do this outdoors in the summer time. (actually if you live is warm climates you should set this up in the shade, too much heat can cause the oils in the flesh to seep into the bones causing stains) The air pump will help to agitate the water and remove flesh mechanically as the grip weakens.
When you start you will have to skin and flesh the animal removing as much of the meat as you can. The more you take off the quicker the process. Once you set the animal in the water and seal it you'll have to change the water out every 2 days. When working with smaller animals (If you want the entire skeleton) it's a good idea to pour the water out through a fine strainer so you don't loose any small bones. (If you have a garden, the water you dump is actually great fertilizer rich in nitrates) Keep refilling the container and changing out the water for at least a week until the remaining flesh is weak enough to "fall off the bone"
After you're done with the maceration process you'll want to clean ans sanitize your bones. Clean them using a tooth brush and dawn dish soap, and soak them in ammonia to kill off any remaining bacteria. DO NOT USE BLEACH! Bleach will eat away at calcium and will make your bones brittle, on skulls it can make them fall apart.
This method also works well with dry bones that have hard dried "jerky" still attached.
If anyone is actually macerating anything at the moment we'd love some pictures to add to the gallery.
Meet the Admins
Posted 13 years agoHey there bone-collectors!
As this group grows (we're at 41 watches and counting) We'll be adding more photos and updating our tutorials to bring you as much helpful information and resources as we can to aide you in your collecting, cleaning, and maintaining your personal collections!
At this time we have 3 additional Admins/Mods who are here to assist in maintaining this group. So I'd like you all to meet skulligans, grihm, and batterypowered. They will be assisting me in answering any questions and concerns you may have regarding our group and hobby. So give them some love and together we'll try to keep you all informed and educated.
Grihm suggested that we all introduce ourselves and give you a small bio including our backgrounds. (I'll leave the floor open to them to add their own bios)
Yoik - http://shamansyoik.weebly.com
Yoik is a crafter and avid hiker. She works with natural materials to create unique jewelry and spiritual tools. She independently studies ethnobotanicals, Meso-American culture, spiritual healing, and neo-shamanism. Other intrests include folk metal, polytheistic mythology, prehistoric creatures, ornithology and herpetology, painting, and craft/micro brews. She has been collecting bones, feathers, hides, and fossils since she was 15 and has been fine tuning the art of bone cleaning for 2 years and has recently started amateur taxidermy.
Grihm - http://www.etsy.com/shop/NeonFoxBoutique
Grihm is a child of the woods. She spent most of her childhood hiking and collecting bones and other artifacts of Nature. Now she has brought her love of bones, feathers, and fur into jewelry. She will also soon set foot into the challenging and beautiful world of taxidermy. She is (about to be) a junior studio art major in college.
Her interests include mothering cacti, succulents, and cats; hiking and communing with nature, crafting, art of all kinds, indie and chillwave music, osteology, and staying up all night.
Skulligans - http://www.etsy.com/shop/CopperAviDesigns
Skulligans has a soul that belongs to the desert. She grew up in New Mexico hiking and exploring. She has always had a love for animal anatomy, osteology, nature, and art. She finds animal skulls and remains in the desert, and turns what would otherwise go to waste into works of art. Skull painting is her favorite hobby, but her other interests include drawing, hiking, horseback riding, everything Steampunk, and of course, bone hunting! She really started to collect skulls just 6 months ago, even though she has had a lifelong fascination with nature. She is hoping to also begin mounting taxidermy in the near future.
batterypowered
Battery is a lover of the strange and odd. He's always had an interest in antiques, taxidermy, and oddities. He also has a love for the world of Side show and freak show performances. He is an artist by heart wanting to study graphic design or possibly animation, and does taxidermy/bone collecting as a hobby. He mostly does skeleton articulation but is wanting to learn the many other wonderful aspects of taxidermy. He's been collecting and cleaning bones for almost a year now. Other then art and the weird Battery's other interest include horror films, comic books, and punk DIY ethics.
As this group grows (we're at 41 watches and counting) We'll be adding more photos and updating our tutorials to bring you as much helpful information and resources as we can to aide you in your collecting, cleaning, and maintaining your personal collections!
At this time we have 3 additional Admins/Mods who are here to assist in maintaining this group. So I'd like you all to meet skulligans, grihm, and batterypowered. They will be assisting me in answering any questions and concerns you may have regarding our group and hobby. So give them some love and together we'll try to keep you all informed and educated.
Grihm suggested that we all introduce ourselves and give you a small bio including our backgrounds. (I'll leave the floor open to them to add their own bios)
Yoik - http://shamansyoik.weebly.comYoik is a crafter and avid hiker. She works with natural materials to create unique jewelry and spiritual tools. She independently studies ethnobotanicals, Meso-American culture, spiritual healing, and neo-shamanism. Other intrests include folk metal, polytheistic mythology, prehistoric creatures, ornithology and herpetology, painting, and craft/micro brews. She has been collecting bones, feathers, hides, and fossils since she was 15 and has been fine tuning the art of bone cleaning for 2 years and has recently started amateur taxidermy.
Grihm - http://www.etsy.com/shop/NeonFoxBoutiqueGrihm is a child of the woods. She spent most of her childhood hiking and collecting bones and other artifacts of Nature. Now she has brought her love of bones, feathers, and fur into jewelry. She will also soon set foot into the challenging and beautiful world of taxidermy. She is (about to be) a junior studio art major in college.
Her interests include mothering cacti, succulents, and cats; hiking and communing with nature, crafting, art of all kinds, indie and chillwave music, osteology, and staying up all night.
Skulligans - http://www.etsy.com/shop/CopperAviDesignsSkulligans has a soul that belongs to the desert. She grew up in New Mexico hiking and exploring. She has always had a love for animal anatomy, osteology, nature, and art. She finds animal skulls and remains in the desert, and turns what would otherwise go to waste into works of art. Skull painting is her favorite hobby, but her other interests include drawing, hiking, horseback riding, everything Steampunk, and of course, bone hunting! She really started to collect skulls just 6 months ago, even though she has had a lifelong fascination with nature. She is hoping to also begin mounting taxidermy in the near future.
batterypoweredBattery is a lover of the strange and odd. He's always had an interest in antiques, taxidermy, and oddities. He also has a love for the world of Side show and freak show performances. He is an artist by heart wanting to study graphic design or possibly animation, and does taxidermy/bone collecting as a hobby. He mostly does skeleton articulation but is wanting to learn the many other wonderful aspects of taxidermy. He's been collecting and cleaning bones for almost a year now. Other then art and the weird Battery's other interest include horror films, comic books, and punk DIY ethics.
Rules
Posted 13 years agoI'll be adding on to this as I think of more rules. The group is still very much under construction. So far we are doing well!
We have over 27 watchers/members and the group has only been up for a few days! So as we grow I'll be hit with more experiences and hopefully not many problems. But I'm sure there will be many walls to run into.
Rules:
(Few of these will result in a ban. We're not trying to be strict, just want to lay down ground rules to avoid conflict, and state how you should behave on this page.)
- FIRST and foremost. Do NOT harass members of this group, If you are opposed to the idea of collecting animal remains that is YOUR issue. Not ours.
- Although we would like you to promote our group by adding our icon to your profile, this is NOT a requirement.
- If you would like us to add a submission of your's to our gallery just note us a link. We will copy/paste your description, and add a link to the original file as well as instruct users to fave the original.
- You are FREE to link us submissions of items you would like to advertise for trade/sale. (To do this just leave a shout with the link or send us a note, and we'll either post a journal, or re-post it as a submission.
- Do not argue over methods of bone preparation. There are many ways to clean bones, some DO run the possibility of damaging bones. If you think someone is "doing it wrong" let them know in a mature fashion. This isn't to say you can't suggest better/safer methods. Just don't bicker.
- If you have a question regarding bone cleaning either leave us a shout, or send us a note. We'll try our best to assist you. It's also a good idea to check old submissions to see if we already covered the subject in a tutorial, or if someone already asked in the comment area.
- You are encouraged to join in on discussions and give input on cleaning methods. If you've found a method that works well that we haven't discussed PLEASE share! We just ask that you do it maturely, and if it should conflict with anyone else's methods just give information. Don't argue.
(for instance, some people use chlorine bleach to whiten bones, this can make bones deteriorate, but some people have had success with this method. Instead of simply telling someone this is wrong explain WHY it might not be the best idea.)
We have over 27 watchers/members and the group has only been up for a few days! So as we grow I'll be hit with more experiences and hopefully not many problems. But I'm sure there will be many walls to run into.
Rules:
(Few of these will result in a ban. We're not trying to be strict, just want to lay down ground rules to avoid conflict, and state how you should behave on this page.)
- FIRST and foremost. Do NOT harass members of this group, If you are opposed to the idea of collecting animal remains that is YOUR issue. Not ours.
- Although we would like you to promote our group by adding our icon to your profile, this is NOT a requirement.
- If you would like us to add a submission of your's to our gallery just note us a link. We will copy/paste your description, and add a link to the original file as well as instruct users to fave the original.
- You are FREE to link us submissions of items you would like to advertise for trade/sale. (To do this just leave a shout with the link or send us a note, and we'll either post a journal, or re-post it as a submission.
- Do not argue over methods of bone preparation. There are many ways to clean bones, some DO run the possibility of damaging bones. If you think someone is "doing it wrong" let them know in a mature fashion. This isn't to say you can't suggest better/safer methods. Just don't bicker.
- If you have a question regarding bone cleaning either leave us a shout, or send us a note. We'll try our best to assist you. It's also a good idea to check old submissions to see if we already covered the subject in a tutorial, or if someone already asked in the comment area.
- You are encouraged to join in on discussions and give input on cleaning methods. If you've found a method that works well that we haven't discussed PLEASE share! We just ask that you do it maturely, and if it should conflict with anyone else's methods just give information. Don't argue.
(for instance, some people use chlorine bleach to whiten bones, this can make bones deteriorate, but some people have had success with this method. Instead of simply telling someone this is wrong explain WHY it might not be the best idea.)
Tutorials in the works....
Posted 13 years agoHey there! I'm working on getting some photographic tutorials on preparing bones, but if you've ever harvested your own you know it takes time and patience to properly clean bones for displaying.
Some of the topics I'm currently working on are:
Degreasing with ammonia baths.
Whitening using oxygen powered cleaners.
Whitening with peroxide.
Next time I get a nice piece of roadkill I'll be sure to document maceration, unless I find something smaller first, in which case I'll be documenting the use of natural degraders (insects) to harvest bones.
I'll also be putting together a through DOS and DON'TS list for treating bones.
Any input is always helpful!
Some of the topics I'm currently working on are:
Degreasing with ammonia baths.
Whitening using oxygen powered cleaners.
Whitening with peroxide.
Next time I get a nice piece of roadkill I'll be sure to document maceration, unless I find something smaller first, in which case I'll be documenting the use of natural degraders (insects) to harvest bones.
I'll also be putting together a through DOS and DON'TS list for treating bones.
Any input is always helpful!
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