Post #420853 by AZpaniolo on Tue, Nov 25, 2008 3:00 PM

I searched the archives for information on this topic and came up pretty much empty. I'd like to know what those of you who carve bone use to stain the engraved lines in your carvings. I'm a newbie and have just started carving Makau during the summer. I recently cleaned up some bone scrap and tried to make a pendant with a Hawaiian petroglyph engraved into it. I wanted to make the engraving stand out so I tried leaving the pendant in cold Lipton tea overnight. Got a very slight change in coloration but not the deep, dark lines inside the engraving that I wanted in order to make the petroglyph stand out. My preference would be to paint the stain directly onto the engraved lines I want to stand out on the pendant or Makau. It would be even better if whatever stain it is was water resistant so the piece could be worn swimming/surfing/bathing etc. without worry of the stain washing away. Any advice or suggestions from you experienced bone carvers would be much appreciated.