Joining two pieces of bones

[Welsh Wizard]

Hi.

 

Ive two pieces of dinosaur limb bone that I want to join together. The pieces are pretty heavy and about 4 inches in diameter. What’s the best way to do it?

 

Ive been toying with drilling the bone and inserting a metal rod or just glueing but I don’t know which type of glue to use. I normally use superglue or paraloid for small pieces but this is a lot bigger than anything I’ve tried to join.

 

thanks

 

Nick

[caldigger]

Mr. Kris  @Ptychodus04

[Ptychodus04]

Thanks @caldigger for the tag.

 

@Welsh Wizard, I would suggest a high strength, slow setting epoxy for this project. You want a slow setting epoxy as they are more stable long term than the quick setting variety. The longer the set time the better. The Perot used 24 hour epoxy for some sauropod vertebrae. Spread on a thin layer of epoxy and clamp the pieces together if you can.

[Welsh Wizard]

Thanks Kris

 

I'll have a look at a slow setting epoxy and give it a go. I'll rig up a stand to use the weight of the heavier piece whilst it's setting as it's not possible to clamp.

 

Nick

[JohnJ]

If ever using a metal rod, avoid rebar or other rust prone iron rods.  Some fossil bones using these type rods in the past have fractured due to rust expansion.

[Welsh Wizard]

Thanks John

[steelhead9]

Drilling and inserting a metal rod (I use brass) is the strongest and best way to fasten 2 heavy pieces of bone together. I drill a hole in one piece and glue the rod into it (I use cyanoacrylate). I then drill a larger hole in the other piece to facilitate alignment. I then fill that hole with cyanoacrylate, then spray the exposed portion of the rod with accelerator, inserting and aligning the two pieces quickly before the glue sets. If the crack between the 2 pieces of bone is really tight I fill it with cyanoacrylate. If the crack is at all wide, I use epoxy putty, pushing it into the crack as much as possible and smoothing the surface. You would likely break the bone in another spot before you could separate this bond.

[Ptychodus04]

8 minutes ago, steelhead9 said:

Drilling and inserting a metal rod (I use brass) is the strongest and best way to fasten 2 heavy pieces of bone together. I drill a hole in one piece and glue the rod into it (I use cyanoacrylate). I then drill a larger hole in the other piece to facilitate alignment. I then fill that hole with cyanoacrylate, then spray the exposed portion of the rod with accelerator, inserting and aligning the two pieces quickly before the glue sets. If the crack between the 2 pieces of bone is really tight I fill it with cyanoacrylate. If the crack is at all wide, I use epoxy putty, pushing it into the crack as much as possible and smoothing the surface. You would likely break the bone in another spot before you could separate this bond.

 

Brass is good because of its overall strength (even though it is relatively soft), ease of sourcing, and being devoid of iron. If the bone is heavily mineralized, it might be hard for most hobbyists to drill into it though. If you're joint surface to overall length ratio is good, the joint would be stable without the pin (i.e. short wide bones as opposed to long thin bones).