Off to good Hitty doll homes!

Dave has just finished these miniature carved bone footstools for three proud HittyGirls. After one of the group members got hers, several others just had to have one for their Hitty!

Bone Tip Double Point Knitting Needles US SZ 10, 6.00mm

Bone Tip Double Point Knitting Needles US SZ 10, 6.00mm

Dave handcrafted this set of double point knitting needles out of walnut with Buffalo bone tips and Truestone turquoise accent rings. Truestone is powdered turquoise mixed with resin to form a composite material that can be turned on a lathe. They are a little over 10 inches long and US size 10, 6.00 mm.

You can view an additional photo of these gorgeous knitting needles at the Ebay auction page.

Hitty Doll Carved Bone Quill Pen & Lapis Inkwell

Hitty Doll Carved Bone Quill Pen & Lapis Lazuli Inkwell

Have you been looking for an inkwell and quill pen for your Hitty desk? Among Hitty’s gifts from her First Hundred Years was.. "...a quill pen out of a feather shed by a neighbor's parrot...". The feather is described as "...a green so bright, with a touch of scarlet thrown in...".

Dave carved this miniature feather quill pen out of Buffalo bone and used some of his colored scrimshaw inks to dye it green with a touch of scarlet. One can’t very well have a quill pen without an inkwell, so he turned this miniature ink bottle out of Truestone lapis lazuli. Truestone is crushed lapis powder mixed with resin making it a composite material that can be carved or turned on a lathe.

The feather measures 2 inches long and the inkwell is approx 3/8 inch high and 7/16 inch diameter on the bottom. More photos of this hand carved quill and inkwell can be found at the Ebay auction listing.

Bone Embroidery Thread Laying Tool & Tip Protector

Bone Embroidery Thread Laying Tool & Tip Protector

This 5 1/4 inch laying tool was handcrafted by Dave from Buffalo bone. While he has made these before, this is the first where he has incorporated a point protector with the tool. The tip protector is turned from burl wood and attaches to the tool by means of an elastic stretch cord and lobster claw clasp. It is easily and quickly removable from the tool for use. Once finished just re-clasp and stretch the protector back in place. Easy Peezy!

This laying tool is currently up for auction on Ebay. More photos can be found at the auction listing.

Hitty's Footstool

Many of you already know that Dave carves Hitty dolls and Hitty accessories from time to time and this bone foot stool is his latest work done on commission. He has done several bone and ivory Hitty footstools in various styles. For those of you that are not familiar with the storybook of Hitty's First 100 years, while she was sailing aboard the whaler Diane-Kate, the sailors carved her a "bone footstool". There is no description of the footstool so Dave takes artistic license when he creates these charming miniature footstools. Hitty stands 6 1/4 inches tall. This miniature bone footstool is approx 2 5/8 inches long by 1 1/4 inches wide by 1 1/4 inch high.

Bone and Fine Silver Inlay Drop Tatting Shuttle

Bone and Fine Silver Inlay Drop Tatting Shuttle

Dave has handcrafted this beautiful 3 inch drop style tatting shuttle from Buffalo bone. It is inlayed with a 99.99% fine silver setting that we press molded and fired in our jewelry kiln. It is initialed and dated by Dave and can be currently found up for auction on Ebay.

Cedar French Spool Knitter with Bone Hook

Cedar French Spool Knitter with Bone Hook

Here’s a super fancy spool knitter for your collection! Dave handcrafted this 4 ½ inch spool knitter out of Cedar wood and adorned it with pyrography artwork on all sides. Dave really likes to use cedar for pyro-art because it burns easy and smells good while he's working on it.

It has 4 framed stations, each with a different framed motif of artwork and it comes with a carved bone needle. The four knitting pins are solid brass that will not rust.This one of a kind fiber art tool has been initialed and dated by Dave.

If you would like to view more photos of this item, please click here to visit the Ebay auction.

Carved Bone Embroidery Thread Laying Tool Stiletto

Carved Bone Embroidery Thread Laying Tool/Stiletto

Dave handcrafted this 4 3/8 inch laying tool out of buffalo bone. This tool has been adorned with a tiny acorn finial. This piece has been initialed by Dave. To view an additional photo of this item, please click here to visit the Ebay auction.

Handcrafted Bone Embroidery Laying Tool Stiletto

Handcrafted Bone Embroidery Laying Tool Stiletto

This 4 ¼ inch laying tool was handcrafted out of Buffalo Bone. It is initialed by Dave, the maker. If you would like to view an additional photo of this tool, please visit the Ebay auction.

Handcrafted Bone Embroidery Laying Tool Stiletto

Handcrafted Bone Embroidery Laying Tool Stiletto

Dave handcrafted this 5 ¼ inch laying tool out of buffalo bone and golden swirl celluloid. It has been initialed by Dave and is currently up for auction on Ebay.

Hand Carved Bone Fish Sewing Thread Winder

Hand Carved Bone Fish Sewing Thread Winder

Dave has hand carved this little 2 5/8 inch fish thread winder from buffalo bone. This piece has been initialed by Dave, and is currently up for auction on Ebay.

What's Dave Been Up to Lately?

You may have noticed that Dave hasn't had many items up for auction on Ebay lately, but that's not because he's not working. He has been creating up a storm in his studio! I keep trying to get him to let me take a photo of his workspace, but he gets a panicked look on his face and says "Nooooo"! LOL

One of the projects he's been working on is the beautiful set shown above that was commissioned by one of our wonderful patrons. The ruler is scrimshaw on bone and the scissor fob features scrimshaw on fossil mammoth ivory. The focal bead on the fob is fossil walrus which has been accented with small bone beads and amethysts. East Indian Rosewood was used for the tatting shuttle, which also has the teddy bear scrim'd on fossil mammoth ivory.

Dave is nearly finished with his last commission, which was a large order from a tatting shuttle collector, so you should be seeing some new auctions soon! I'll be sure and post them here when he has them ready :)

Embroidery Buffalo Bone and Rosewood Laying Tool Stiletto or Hair Stick

Embroidery Buffalo Bone and Rosewood Laying Tool Stiletto or Hair Stick

Dave has handcrafted this laying tool, which can also be used as a hair stick, from buffalo bone with a Honduras Rosewood finial. This beautiful tool is 5 ¾ inches long and has been initialed by Dave, the maker.

Buffalo Bone and Celluloid Crochet Hook Size E 3.50

Dave made this hook from Buffalo bone and red/black swirl celluloid. It is a US size E (3.50 mm) and is 6 ½ inches long. This hook has been initialed by Dave, the maker. Please click here to view another photo of this shuttle.

Carved Buffalo Bone Tatting Shuttle

Made with love on Grizzly Mountain!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  

Dave hand crafted this 2 5/8 inch tatting shuttle out of Buffalo bone. It has been adorned with a delicate floral motif. This tatting shuttle has been initialed and dated by Dave, the maker.

Please visit the Ebay auction for this item to view an additional photo.

Handcrafted Lace Bobbin with Turquoise and Bone Spangle

Dave hand crafted this 4 ¼ inch lace bobbin out of joined walnut and stabilized maple wood. JoAnna has made the beaded spangle using an old inlayed Yak bone bead from Tibet , turquoise and carnelian beads. It is initialed by Dave, the maker.  If you would like to view more photos of this item, please click here.

Carved Buffalo Bone Yarn Spinners WPI Gauge

Dave carved this Double Wraps Per Inch (WPI) yarn gauge/ruler from Buffalo bone. It has been initialed and dated by Dave, the maker.

Carved Buffalo Bone Yarn Spinners WPI Gauge

Dave carved this Double Wraps Per Inch (WPI) yarn gauge from Buffalo bone. It is 3 inches long by 1 inch wide and has both a ½ inch and a 1 inch WPI gauge. Dave has also hand carved a Rose and Leaf motif on one side. It has been initialed and dated by Dave, the maker.

Carved Buffalo Bone Lady Hoare Tatting Shuttle

Dave hand carved this Lady Hoare shuttle out of buffalo bone. It is 4 inches long and relief carved with roses on one side. It is initialed and dated by Dave on the other side. This piece is currently up for auction on Ebay.

Q&A About Imported Bone Tatting Shuttles

Q&A About Imported Bone Tatting Shuttles

Dave tries to never rag on any other shuttles or shuttle makers, but he has gotten a few questions from patrons asking what they can do about the inexpensive imported bone shuttle they bought that has come apart where it has been glued together. He provides the following information from his experience:

"These imported bone post shuttles are held together with modern CA glue or cyanoacrylates [tradenames: Hot Stuff, Zap, Crazy Glue, etc.]. CA glue is great and I use it on wood and ancient ivory however I do not use it to make a bone post shuttle. Why? Bone is not ivory! Ivory is a modified tooth (tusk) and is formed differently than bone. Bone was a living organ within the animal and filled with blood, marrow and fatty acids and oils. The processing of bone includes a "de-greasing" process which requires soaking in a solvent to remove all the grease. If not completely de-greased all the way through, the bone will continue to oooze oil to the surface, even years later. My guess is that the problem some folks are having is maybe the bone material was not completely de-greased. It would be something like rubbing a little vasoline on the 2 surfaces and then trying to stick them together with glue. That won’t work!

If you want to keep your bone shuttle I recommend you pick up a can of liquid Coleman Stove Fuel which is also called "white gas", put some in a mason jar and soak the bone shuttle parts in it for about a month, changing the solvent a couple of times. The white gas is flamable and should be kept in the garage or outside and away from any ignition sources. Once de-greased and dry you can rough up the glue points on the bone with sand paper and re-glue with CA glue.

A couple of years ago I bought a few bison leg bones from a Buffalo Ranch here in Oregon and started the process of cleaning and de-greasing the bone. What a job! What a mess! It seemed to take for ever changing the solvent time after time before I felt all the oils were all out of the bone. I still don’t use the bone for gluing post shuttles, I only use it to make the one piece side shuttles and Lady Hoare shuttles.

Ivory on the other hand is a different story. Fresh ivory may have some natural oils but I do not use fresh ivory. The ancient mammoth ivory I use has been in the ground or ice for over 10,000 years and any oils have long since been leached away and the CA glue works perfect on an ivory shuttle.
One time I did find that some ivory I bought had been polished in a tumbler using a walnut shell medium. While nut shells polished the ivory it left a oil film on the ivory that would not hold glue. It took me awhile to figure out what was going on and I that had to de-grease that lot of ivory if I was going to use any glue.

You have heard the saying that oil and water don’t mix...well nether does oil and CA glue! I just suspect that the imported bone shuttles are more production shuttles for the world market and in production modes sometimes quality control is lacking and short cuts taken.

Hope this helps answer some of those questions. I figured some other tatters might find this useful."

Dave