Polishing Bear Claw?

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hello-
I have a situation where someone wants me to set a bear claw on
a pendant and was wondering if there was a way to polish it?
Also, being an organic, would I need to treat it with something
to “preserve” it?

Thanks
Calvin

2 
I have a situation where someone wants me to set a bear claw on
a pendant and was wondering if there was a way to polish it?
Also, being an organic, would I need to treat it with something
to "preserve" it?

Hi Calvin, I’ve done alot with bear claws. All you have to do
is polish them like any horn material. Tripoli, clean and rouge
or other gold or silver polish, and it will shine like glass.
Don’t over do it because they are just a shell at the top…very
thin. Duane

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3 
   I have a situation where someone wants me to set a bear
claw on a pendant and was wondering if there was a way to
polish it? Also, being an organic, would I need to treat it
with something to "preserve" it?

hi calvin, one could fill the hollow with any type of filler
(epoxy, or whatever your fancy). and polish it with a mild
abrasive if you want. like the stuff one uses for polishing the
plastic crystals of watches would work alright. polish will eat
the claw rapidly, so be careful. the bearclaw is pretty soft and
porous and will not hold the polish long. i always thought the
natural state of the claw is pretty cool. fingernails last a
darn long time, i don’t think one would have to preserve it.

best regards,

geo fox

4

I have a situation where someone wants me to set a bear claw on
a pendant and was wondering if there was a way to polish it?
Also, being an organic, would I need to treat it with something
to “preserve” it?

Hi Calvin,

Being horn, you can polish it with a compound for plastics or
ivory (but the usual metal polishing compounds also work), just
use a buff that you use only for non-metal items, as the fine
black metal smear will eventually burn in (experienced this with
amber and had to sand it off). Don’t work with too much
pressure. For preserving, you could use a wax polish (Briwax,
Liberon or other brands), but it is not too important. Theo
Fossel in his book “Walking & Working Sticks” states that horn
takes 14 years to rot underground.

Regards, Markus

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