View Full Version : Fish Rib Bone Projects
East Scout
02-07-2006, 14:37
I found some really hefty fish rib bones that end to a fine sharp point on the river bank yesturday..I was thinking of some projects like making sewing needles and fishing hooks out of them..Has anyone ever tried such projects and could you give some advice so I dont ruin my find.....Any hlep, even a few words would be great..Ide really like to have a go at working this for the best..
ES
if they already end in a sharp point
then all you have to do is clean them and the polish them and you have some really nice needles
East Scout
02-07-2006, 20:09
How about how to put the hole in the end w/o ruining it...Im talking primitive ways..Not w/ a Dremele tool..
ES
i was going to say drill but if we are talking primitive ways then i am not sure sorry
im sure someone on here will know though
Longstrider
02-07-2006, 20:26
Why not make the hole with a fine bow-drill set-up? You could make the drill (spindle) from any straight hard wood and tip it with a small shard of flint, chertz or quartz as a drill tip.
thats a good idea i would of never thought of that
I've never heard of fish bones being consistently used for sewing in any of the cultures I visited. I don't say it cannot be done, but people clearly prefer other materials over fish bone for making needles.
Fish vertebrae (and certainly shark) have been used for making neklaces etc, but that's cosmetic. The Imraguen of Mauretania, who depend on fish for nearly anything, use the bones of the mullets (their staple fish) for fuel. There's no wood in the Sahara, so they brew their tea on fires from fishbones...
Look for a tutorial by PatrickM, he made a sewing needle from antler, but it shows the drill on there that he used to put the hole in the needle. Also, the fish hook can be made by using a wooden shaft carved to allow the bone to be lashed to the wood at an angle, you could use spruce root for a lashing, or nettle fibre. Ray mears made a fish hook on one of his extreme survival programmes that are readily available on DVD. The shape you are looking to carve into the wood is a straight shaft with a v shape on the end. I'll try and use text to roughly show you:
The line is tied to this end, this is the shank of the hook > ---/\ The bone will be lashed to the \ part of the carving and you wrap the cordage around in a special way to bind the bone to the wood. Not sure if that is clear, if it isn't, I'll try to show it tomorrow with a few pictures. Don't expect anything too great!!!
East Scout
03-07-2006, 10:29
I've never heard of fish bones being consistently used for sewing in any of the cultures I visited. I don't say it cannot be done, but people clearly prefer other materials over fish bone for making needles.
Fish vertebrae (and certainly shark) have been used for making neklaces etc, but that's cosmetic. The Imraguen of Mauretania, who depend on fish for nearly anything, use the bones of the mullets (their staple fish) for fuel. There's no wood in the Sahara, so they brew their tea on fires from fishbones...
In one of my manuals I saw bone being used as a sewing needles..I figured these bones would make a great choice since they were strng and already pointy....
ES
East Scout
03-07-2006, 10:30
, I'll try to show it tomorrow with a few pictures. Don't expect anything too great!!!
Looking forward mate....Thanks!
ES
Right then, this is by no means a master class tutorial, in fact, I forgot I was going to do this so I've just spent an hour whittling, taking photos and loading them onto Photobucket!! The work is shoddy, I make no excuses, this is not a touch on PatrickMs' tutorials!!
Are you still here? You must all be desperate! Let's get on with it then :D
First off, carve a bit of wood to look like this, and the pointy bit will be your fish bone. I used a sliver of wood because I'm all out of fish bones!!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/Spamel/a.jpg
Next, place the cordage you are using, it may be a split spruce root, on the shank of the hook. Hold the fish bone in place and you are ready to begin the tying up.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/Spamel/1.jpg
Take the cordage around the end of the shank and over the bone, then come back on yourself and you should be going in the opposite direction.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/Spamel/2.jpg
The cordage now goes around the back of the shank and you will be at the position you first started winding at.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/Spamel/3.jpg
Now you just go around again, following the last lay you put down.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/Spamel/5.jpg
Keep going!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/Spamel/6.jpg
More!
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/Spamel/7.jpg
You basically wrap the cordage around the shank and bone. Each time it passes over the last piece of cordage, it locks itself in position.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/Spamel/8.jpg
After you have tied the bone onto the shank, wrap your cordage up the shank. Pop in a couple of half hitches and you can use all of your string to suspend the hook in the water, and you won't have to cut the line. If you used a spruce root, tidy the end away by tucking it under a turn, pulling it tight and trimming of any bits that stick out.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/Spamel/9.jpg
Job done! Sorry about the chocolate all over my hands, I'd just finished sharing a bar with my youngest girl. At least I haven't been biting my fingernails!!!
Good stuff mate :You_Rock_
PatrickM
03-07-2006, 21:58
Great work there Spamel.
nice work spamel
great tutorial
Nice one spamel :approve: :thanks:
Have some rep!
shoddy is not a word I would use to describe your tutorial or your work - its great!
then again darn you! :nono: thats something else to add to my to try list! - i'ts growing faster than I can tick things off! (feels like being at work! :( )
East Scout
04-07-2006, 21:04
Bleed'n WOW thats a great post....Thank you twice for taking the time to help out and post such a useful and such illustrated indepth post..Words dont convay the WOW i got seeing it..And sorry for the delay..I had a pissed night out last night...Hangover morning..
ES
spamel, what kind of fish could you catch with that and how would you put bait on? great tutorial by the way! :confused: :D :You_Rock_
you could put the bait on the shank of the hook and push it down always keep the point of the hook clear especially if your using a tough bait if you use bread though you could encase the whole hook in it and mould it around the shank so it stays on,
mark
Culicoidis
05-07-2006, 20:23
Spamel,
Excellent tutorial. :35: I think I know what I will be practicing this weekend. It also gives me an idea for using out of date silk suture material, it comes on 75cm lengths and I feel it is waste to throw the stuff away. Have a draw full and now a project to use it on.
http://ridgeonnet.com/other/jon_bowdrills/hook.jpg
hi guys!
I tested that tutorial out and this is what i did! instead of a bone i used a thorn out of my garden :D
i was wondering could you make one of those hooks using the bones bass have on their fins located on the top of there body
leon
ArkAngel
27-07-2006, 21:15
Excellent work, very tidy coiling
Most impressive i must give that a go
beachlover
27-07-2006, 21:40
Has anyone had a bash at fishing with these yet?
I am off for a couple of days to camp on a beach and thought I might make some and add some tinsel to see how they fare at towing in a mackeral in comparison to a standard feather and hook.
Here's my very rough attempt - I made it years ago when walking through some woods in Cumbria with a friend - the thing was, that I hadn't seen the Ray Mears programme that had just been on where he made one, so I had to do it purely from my mate telling me 'sort of how it looked' :) :
http://www.zen15400.zen.co.uk/hook.jpg
Made with a small Opinel from what was available (piece of pine, a thorn and some spruce root (not much root, hence the sparce binding!)
best
Matt
i was wondering could you make one of those hooks using the bones bass have on their fins located on the top of there body
leon
As long as they are long enough, I can't see why not Leon (they are certainly sharp - I've stabbed myself plenty of times on Bass fins!)
Matt
I have made several bone needles with holes drilled with a fine flint tip inserted into a greater reedmace drill secured with pine glue. I used the drill as a handdrill.
The difficulty is to make the flint drill tip fine enough. As the drill tip doesn't have parallel sides, the hole drilled tends to be a cone shape so for the smallest hole I drilled from both sides to the middle.
i was wondering could you make one of those hooks using the bones bass have on their fins located on the top of there body
leon
Yep mate I've done them with seabass spines.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/LJintheUK/bushcraft/2006_0823Image0002.jpg
Not a particularly good picture or hook. All stoneage, spine tied on with nettle and covered in pitch.