First crack at a homemade bone pick

BillyBob

I have a friend that is a butcher that hooked me up with cow's femur so I could try to make a pick.

For your viewing pleasure, I will explain my process. Maybe it will inspire one of you to try this also, or scare you enough that you'll just call Wegen.

First of all, a warning. When processing your bone, there is a good chance that YOU WILL STINK THE HOUSE UP. In fact it is certain that you will stink the house up. Make sure you are on good terms with your spouse or whoever you may be living with before you proceed.

First, I boiled my choice cow's femur for several hours in laundry detergrent. It helps to emulsify the oils and fats to remove them from the bone. This is the part where your house might start to smell funny.

Then I looked for the flattest/thickest section to mark an area for the pick.

Then I marked the areas that looked good and cut the section with a hack saw.

Then I cut out each rough section with the hack saw.

Then it was out to the sander for shaping. I finished it off with a hand file.

This is just the first iteration of this pick. I purposely left it larger so I can fine tune it to fit my hand.

Salieri

Thanks ! I enjoyed this guide ! Thanks again !

BillyBob

I used some Crest toothpaste on a cotton ball to do a final polish.

It's nice and smooth now.

Adelaarvaren

Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

Argyle Dave

So, what is your impression of your bone pick compared to a Wegen or other picks?. I've been making my own from a sheet of Delrin. I styled mine as a cross between the Wegen and the Mustache pick. I liked the shape of the Wegen and the beval shape of the Mustache. It's actually so easy to buy a descent pick but I can't resist making my own.

Dave

BillyBob

Dave! Missed you at Djangofest.

Still love the guitar. I have one of your picks, which you threw in with the purchase. As much as I like the shape of the pick, the delrin is really slippery in my fingers and the pick tends to rotate. But it plays pretty fast and loud, and has been the one I have used since I bought the Gitane from you. In fact, I used your design as the template for my pick.

The difference with the bone pick is that it doesn't seem to be so slippery, reducing the tendency to rotate, and the pick feels like it is slightly gripping the string, as opposed to delrin which feels like it is sliding over the string. My brother gave me a Tortiose shell, which sounded nice, but because of its unevenness, I had a hard time using it.

As far as the new pick goes, so far so good. It sounds really nice. It is interesting how just the material of a pick will affect the tone so dramatically. I might start making the tip a little more blunt like in the pics I saw of Djangos pick that is on this forum.

And BTW - The pick I made wound up being about 4mm thick.

a

the shape matters.. material does, but not as much.

Argyle Dave

Yeah, I was sorry to miss you at djangofest, I didn't get your message until to late.
I know what you mean about the Delrin being kind of slippery. I have gotten used to holding on to it and I really like the way it feels on the strings. I also have been rounding the tip off more. It seems to feel smoother and more comfortable to use. I can't remember if I gave you one of the picks with the hole pattern drilled into it for grip. That seems to keep it from rotateing for me.
I'm cuious about the bone though, I think i'm going to try your technique. I'll use my propane crab cooker out side for processing the bone. I'd rather upset the neighbors than my wife.

Dave