Camel bone, Ox bone, Fosselized Walrus bone?!

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kissing

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Upon feeling that two of my ukes would benefit from new saddles, I went on the eBay to shop around.

I figured, since saddles themselves don't cost all that much, I would get the fanciest one I could find, and I settled on this "camel bone" saddle:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131330772095?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT


Anyone have experience with this kind of saddle?

The saddles I am replacing are the cheap "synthetic" types. One of the ukuleles actually originally came with a bone saddle, which I sanded down too low and replaced with a cheap synthetic one that I had lying around. I felt that this had a detrimental effect on the tone of the instrument..
 
No, although I have made nuts (and one saddle) out of simple rosewood, oak and cow bone (to be specific, a marrow bone that was first used in the soup).

Bone and ivory really sound different than the wood options, much clearer.

But beware that filing, sawing or sanding bits of bone will release a strong smell. It's easy to do, and the smell will be just temporary, but what all the online videos and tutorials forget to mention is that you don't shape bone nuts and saddles in the kitchen or the living room...
 
Yes, the smell of sanding a bone saddle brings back memories of having a tooth cavity drilled and filled at the dentist.
But bone makes a nice saddle, and smell is temporary.
 
Consider using Tusq. It is synthetic bone. Martin uses it. Vintage restorers use it.

It is easy to work with relative to bone. Bone, Ivory and other organic materials have a grain that can cause issues. There is a thread on it in the luthiers lounge somewhere. Costs about $12. It is available in colors but you have to research that.
http://www.graphtech.com/products/brands/tusq/tusq-ukulele-mandolin
 
Brian Griffin from Griffin Ukuleles uses bone from the lower leg of a buffalo. I would imagine a camel would have similar densities due to the weight of the animal.
 
I upgraded from whatever Kamaka uses to camel bone at some point. I thought it sounded better...
 
I have been making my own nut and saddles out of cow bone from a bleached white dog bone sold at the pet store. I need to go visit the dairy farm down the road and see if I can't score a leg bone or 2. One leg bone will make a lot of nuts/bones.

I have a Manzanita branch that someone gave me for a bird perch. One of the hardest woods I have seen. Anyone ever make a nut or saddle out of manzanita?
 
It's my understanding that bone dust is extremely hazardous to breathe.

Anyone try desert ironwood? Harder than all of them.
 
PhilUSAFRet said:
It's my understanding that bone dust is extremely hazardous to breathe.

Anyone try desert ironwood? Harder than all of them.
Click to expand...
Most dusts are hazardous in one form or another. A $35 respirator will take care of most of those concerns especially when the appropriate filters are used and production work is not considered. - Luthiers Lounge has discussions on this stuff.

What are the advantages of desert ironwood other than hardness? Is hardness really a good thing for our purposes?
 
IamNoMan said:
Most dusts are hazardous in one form or another. A $35 respirator will take care of most of those concerns especially when the appropriate filters are used and production work is not considered. - Luthiers Lounge has discussions on this stuff.

What are the advantages of desert ironwood other than hardness? Is hardness really a good thing for our purposes?
Click to expand...

Was just wondering about their usefulness as nut/saddle material since ebony is sometimes used.
 
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