Bone Nalebinding Needle

Well, with my new plan in place for the A&S competition I wanted to get started on the list right away.  It just so happened that I had all the items I needed to make a bone nalebinding needle here in the house so I started with that today.

From Viking age into late-medieval times needles were often made of bone or antler.  Hald's book says that wooden and bone needles may have used in Viking Age Denmark.  They would vary in size and shape depending on the intended use.  Nalebinding needles tend to be long and flat with a blunt tip as to not split the fibers as you work.

Ref: 002215 Needle-like objects from 16-22 Coppergate, 9th/10th century.

I stole some beef rib bones out of the dog's kennel that I had given him a few weeks ago.  Then following the directions for preparing the bone from this site I got to work.  I boiled the bones to soften them a bit.  I marked on the bone the basic shape I thought the needle should be.  Then using a Dremel, I cut the rough shape of the needle away from the rest of the bone.  Using a grinding bit, I then did more shaping and smoothing of the needle.  Once I was happy with shape and thinness of the needle I drilled an oval hole on one end and smoothed that over as well.  Finally, I buffed the needle until it felt smooth in the hand.

Sources:
Cadfan, E., How to Make Bone Needles, Fettered Cock Press. (Purchase here)
Hald, M., Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials. Aarhus University Press, 1980.
Ceara ni Neill, website "Past Times on the Web", http://housebarra.com/EP/ep02/18bone.html