Product Review

Faux Bone™
Creator Robert Dancik

A few days ago we published a project by Robert Dancik, called PMC and Faux Bone™. We got a few letters from viewers asking us more about the Faux Bone™, so we have decided to do a product review on Faux Bone™ to tell you more about it.
 

Sheets of Faux Bone and tools                     

Faux Bone™ is a new, user friendly, inexpensive and extremely versatile material. Faux Bone™ can be cut, and carved, sawn and sanded. It can be filed, hammered, polished, drilled, stamped, riveted, inlayed, dyed, and painted. It can look like ivory, have the patina of aged ceramic, be polished to a pure white, or, of course, look like bone. You can heat and bend it with nothing more than a small embossing heat-gun. It is so strong you can rivet on it, die form right into it, or hammer metal around it. Faux Bone_ is perfect for artwork as varied as jewelry and book making, sculpture, or printmaking. It can be easily embossed to make texture plates for PMC and basket makers can use it to simulate Scrimshaw on the tops of Nantucket Baskets. Rounds of Faux Bone™ can be heated and dapped (formed into a bowl shape) and filled with other materials or combined to make hollow beads. Its strength makes it ideal for use in tool making such as bone folders for bookmaking or as handles for files and stamps. It can be carved and used for printmaking and then the Faux Bone™ “plate” can be patinated as a finished piece itself.

Story Bracelet

We think that this “magical” material could be used for many things that not even it’s inventor, Robert Dancik, could think of. I asked my friend Bridgette Rallo to comment on Faux Bone™, since she took a class from Robert, on how she liked the material. “The deal on faux bone is that is it extremely easy to work with and quite versatile. It saws and drills easily, takes color well, can be heated and stamped -- all in all, a very useful and creative product. Did you know that it's Robert's product? He developed it himself and markets it, and you have to buy it through him.” 

So it’s easy to use, you can do everything with it and you have to buy it from Robert….hmmm I wonder if he charges you an arm and a leg...like your local gas station? We went up to Robert’s website and found the pricing for the Faux Bone™. Not bad at all! The product is sold in 8” x 8” squares and then by thickness. A 1/16th thickness is $6 per square, 1/8th thickness is $8 per square, 1/4” thickness is $10 square and 1/2’ thickness is $15 a square. He also has pre-made Bracelet Blanks from $35 to $55 per 4 blanks based on thickness again. Robert also has a few tools that are optional and I’m sure that would make you life easier, but they are not required to work the material.

Robert has also prepared a very detail PDF that you can download for free that describes more of the possibilities that you can do with Faux Bone™. This is a worthwhile document if you plan to work with the material since it also includes directions, safety instructions, and artistic comments. You can download it here

Robert has made numerous pieces from the material and we have shared just a few on this page. So we encourage you to go up to site and check out both his gallery and the Faux Bone™ Pages and let your imagination run wild with ways to use this new artistic material.

Visit Robert’s Website at www.robertdancik.com and the Faux Bone™ section for pricing and examples of Robert’s work in Faux Bone™

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From Our Viewers

I just want to let you know that I LOVED the bead history piece about the old time bead kits. I loved seeing the photos, too. Please continue. thanks, Carol

Dear Carol, 

We love the old articles written by Peter Francis, what a interesting person he was and such a fountain of knowledge about everything beady. ~ Tonette and Bill

I like you’re your on-line magazine. I read it when I have a chance but here lately, I don’t have a lot of time. That is a common complaint among so many people these days. I know I’m not the only one. I have a day job that pays the bills and helps support my part time jewelry business that my husband calls a big hobby. Since I know there are hundreds of others out there juggling their lives to make time for their jewelry like I do, does anybody write articles on how to better your business doing it part time? What are the most important aspects to concentrate when being part time? What are the best ways to handle your taxes part time? Best suggestions on taking your own pictures, maintaining your own website, handling your bead and supply stock, how much is enough to have at a show, how do you get to stores to show your work when you work 40 hours a week. Maybe a lot of your readers do this for themselves and friends and aren’t selling their jewelry and trying to make it a business.

I would like to see not just articles on photographing your jewelry, but details on how to build a light box, where to set up your camera, what features to look for when buying a camera that will be best for photographing jewelry. Other detailed articles on jewelry trends and color trends. Tips from designers about proportion, color and texture. How about polls on your readers on some of the questions above.

Thanks for your time. Better get back to work now before my boss comes in! 

Cindy Cherrington

Dear Cindy,

You are not going to believe this but I think we have “most” of your questions covered. First on the business issues I would suggest that you read Rena’s Klingenberg’s business articles and her Tips articles. They both have excellent content that any beginner in our business should browse. There are over 100 archived articles in the Business of Beads section and Tips From Rena section.

While we have a few articles on photography and scanning, we need more. Their are some excellent sources and sites that can help you on the web. We are currently looking for someone to help us write a column on photography jewelry and hopefully soon we will find one soon.

As far as jewelry trends we have a monthly column from Ann Turner, on colors Margie Deeb writes her Muse every month (this month we have two) and we have Lynn Dean writing on design basics and tips. Currently we just don’t have the time to be doing polls, sorry. Hope to continue to “hot” spots in future as well. You can have unlimited download rights for these articles when you become a premium subscriber for only $25 per year.

Bead On ~ Tonette and Bill

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