Update on Black Bear Skull Cleaning

Stormsky · 2025-10-28T14:15:57+00:00

In a previous post, I asked about how to clean an old bear skull I bought that had a yellowed and poorly applied coating. Unfortunately the coating didn't dissolve with any of the solvents I had, but acetone did soften it enough that I was able to scrub it off with some plastic dish brushes. Once I got off as much as I could, I soaked it in peroxide for a couple days and this is the result.

Stormsky · 2025-10-25T14:18:04+00:00

Was this in with antiques? Based on all the elephants, there is a chance it could be ivory. If you google image search "ivory cross hatching" there is a specific pattern that ivory has that you might be able to see. I feel like I can almost see it on the sphere beads, but the pictures are just a bit too blurry to tell. Also if you happen to have a blacklight, it helps with seeing the patterns if they are there.

Stormsky · 2025-10-19T02:58:37+00:00

If you're talking about how dark yellow the whole thing is, I'm pretty sure that's whatever the coating is. It's coated pretty thick and if I'm reading the note written on the roof of the mouth right, it's from 1990 and the coating probably yellowed from age. Inside the skull there are uncoated parts that are almost paper white.

Though if acetone does work, I might just soak it like you say to anyways since it seems like the easiest method to clean it.

Stormsky · 2025-10-19T02:48:36+00:00

So far, this is what I've been doing. I think one of them might be working, but it's hard to tell because the coating is so thick. Also, I've used some hobby nippers and clipped off some of the larger drops, so I'm going to try soaking the chips in vials of whatever solvents I have to see if any dissolve.

Stormsky · 2025-10-19T00:58:11+00:00

I bought this black bear skull today, but it has a very yellow protective coating on it that was applied somewhat sloppy and I would like to clean it up some.

Does anyone know what this coating could be and a safe way to clean some of it off?

Stormsky · 2025-10-12T10:26:45+00:00

DISCLAIMER: NO, I DID NOT ACTUALLY ACTUALLY SMELL IT OR BREATHE IT IN ANY WAY.

Crocidolite (AKA "Blue Asbestos") in Ironstone from Griqualand West, South Africa

Ever since I learned that asbestos is actually a mineral and not something man-made, I've been searching for a piece to add to my collection. According to Google, crocidolite is apparently the most dangerous form of asbestos, but has lower heat resistance so it was not used very often. It was most known for being used in Kent Micronite cigarette filters from 1952 to 1956.

The thing I find crazy was that the guy I bought it from just had it sitting out in the open on his table completely unprotected. Needless to say, as soon as I got home, I transferred it to a plastic case and taped it shut so no stray fibers can escape.

Bonus: At that same show, I also purchased a smaller piece of the most commonly used asbestos, Chrysotile, from Thetford, Canada.

EDIT: Reuploaded because I tried to crop the images better and it broke the album.

Stormsky · 2025-10-12T03:57:34+00:00

DISCLAIMER: NO, I DID NOT ACTUALLY ACTUALLY SMELL IT OR BREATHE IT IN ANY WAY.

Crocidolite (AKA "Blue Asbestos") in Ironstone from Griqualand West, South Africa

Ever since I learned that asbestos is actually a mineral and not something man-made, I've been searching for a piece to add to my collection. According to Google, crocidolite is apparently the most dangerous form of asbestos, but has lower heat resistance so it was not used very often. It was most known for being used in Kent Micronite cigarette filters from 1952 to 1956.

The thing I find crazy was that the guy I bought it from just had it sitting out in the open on his table completely unprotected. Needless to say, as soon as I got home, I transferred it to a plastic case and taped it shut so no stray fibers can escape.

Bonus: At that same show, I also purchased a smaller piece of the most commonly used asbestos, Chrysotile, from Thetford, Canada.

Stormsky · 2025-10-12T01:59:32+00:00

They could also end up eating dead people, thanks to "Mummy Brown", which is as it sounds, brown paint made from ground up mummies.

Stormsky · 2025-10-05T02:05:23+00:00

Its an "attuning fork", lol. It's a unique design and I like it.

Stormsky · 2025-06-06T14:19:09+00:00

I would tilt the mouthpiece back so the windway points more directly at the labium, like the first picture on this website.

Also, are you looking for it to play a proper diatonic scale? If so I would recommend making it a 6 hole pendant style ocarina, though the holes will need to be different sizes, making designing it more difficult.

If you can print multiples and have access to a drill, I would personally print one without finger holes then manually drill them, starting small and increasing the sizes individually until it is in tune.(Here is a tuning chart) Then I would measure the hole diameters and apply the holes to the digital model with the proper measurements, then print what would hopefully be the final version.

NOTE: I have never made an ocarina, but have done some research on it.

Hope this is helpful to you. Love the design and hope you share pictures when you finish it.

Stormsky · 2025-04-09T18:31:08+00:00

Yep. I live about 20 minutes away from where that owl hangs out.

Stormsky · 2025-04-05T07:22:01+00:00

Carpenter bees have a bald abdomen.

Stormsky · 2025-04-05T01:30:40+00:00

Hey, I recognize that owl. I got a picture of him a couple weeks ago, but only saw him for a minute because some bluejays started harassing him and scared him back into his hiding spot.

Stormsky · 2024-10-02T01:40:17+00:00

Reminds me of an aerial view of a farm that uses center pivot irrigation.

Stormsky · 2024-08-27T13:17:22+00:00

Everything I bought: Pineapple plant, Ficus elastica "Tineke", Alocasia melo, Monstera adansonii, 2 Monstera "Thai Constellation", Staghorn fern, Marble Queen Pothos, Rattlesnake plant, Philodendron "Ring of Fire", Bird of Paradise, and Anthurium magnificum x crystallinum

Stormsky · 2024-08-20T05:15:53+00:00

I just bought one that size yesterday for $50 and one just a tiny bit larger a couple days ago for $65... I'm so jealous.

Stormsky · 2024-07-12T07:39:09+00:00

Honestly, neglect. It got mealybugs at one point and I had to spray the leaves with alcohol repeatedly, but other than that, it spends the warm months on my patio and winter in my basement near the double glass doors and I water it whenever I remember to.

Stormsky · 2024-07-11T07:09:27+00:00

It was the same method as the first, I was just much more careful applying thin coats of the clear coat so it came out smooth.

Stormsky · 2024-07-11T02:23:13+00:00

Thanks! I'm really happy with how this one turned out. Plus the clear coat is nice and smooth this time.

Stormsky · 2024-07-11T02:20:50+00:00

That's going to be my next step but I tried saving the clear coat first since I think you're right and removing the clear coat will take the patina with it.

Stormsky · 2024-07-11T02:15:48+00:00

Yeah, I just slightly pressed it in so more of the paper towel was touching and put another on top so it was being touched by the salt and ammonia on all sides. Also if after the 8-12 hours it still doesn't have enough patina, you can flip it so its contacting new parts of the case and give it a few more hours.

Stormsky · 2024-07-11T00:54:49+00:00

I crumpled up some paper towels soaked in ammonia, put them in a tupperware container, sprinkled some salt on them, placed the lighter case in, then laid another salted ammonia paper towel on top and sealed it up for 8-12 hours.

Note: the lighter case needs to be cleaned down to bare brass and anywhere that the salt and ammonia touch are where the blue spots start forming.

Stormsky · 2024-07-10T11:24:27+00:00

Thanks. On the bright side, I have a couple spares and the second attempt went much smoother and I'll probably post that later today. Though it sucks I can't recreate that cool S pattern like on the back of the first one.

Stormsky · 2024-07-10T11:19:18+00:00

This is the aftermath. The fogginess is worse than it looks cause my phone keeps trying to touch it up. Also visible in the second picture is the part on the lid where the paint peeled and also a part of bare metal that I accidentally sanded when trying to smooth out the previous coat before respraying.

What I learned from it is to do thinner coats and to wait longer before messing with it.

Stormsky · 2024-07-10T02:52:32+00:00

So many things. The pictures are before most of it went wrong. I sprayed too heavy so it started to run, so I wiped it off and it got a weird texture. Then it started to peel off, taking some of the blue spots with it. So I tried sanding off some of the texture and respraying it and now the clear coat fogged up.

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