I have a chunk of baleen that a friend brought back from Alaska. This is a small 'tooth'. It is blue-black in color, 1" thick at the base, decreasing in thickness out to the long 'hairs' that protrude from the end. I learned from an associate who works with baleen stays that the 'bones' are cut with a baleen knife (yes, there is such an implement - it's wicked sharp), and the cuts are made along both grains of the larger piece; i.e. my chunk would be first cut into pieces 1/4" wide and 1" thick (at the base), then sliced again to make 'bones' 1/4" wide and 1/16" or 1/8" thick, then cut to the finished length.
The thick portion of my chunk is very solid; the baleen becomes progressively more flexible as it thins. The handles on the silverware mentioned in a previous post were probably carved from the thicker section of a piece of baleen. Carolann Schmitt [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.genteelarts.com Ladies & Gentlemen of the 1860s Conference, March 2 -5, 2006 >After comments from Wanda, Suzi & others my current hypothesis is that >the thickness of the baleen matters greatly. Seems like we're all >describing the same blue whale baleen. Your point about different >areas of the baleen is I suppose is reasonable supposition. I've never >seen any "in whole cloth" so to speak. > >--cin _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
