Ivory and horn imitation, tortoiseshell imitation

1.Imitation ivory: 8 parts by weight of white shellac are dissolved in 32 parts by weight. ammonia, at a temperature of 35-40 ° C (shaking). After 5 hours, 40 parts by weight are added. zinc oxide, stirring thoroughly. Then the ammonia is removed by heating. The mixture is then air dried on glass sheets and shaped. If you want to get objects painted in different tones, then dyes need to be added to zinc oxide (zinc white).

Making billiard balls: Soak 800 g of wood glue and 100 g of Cologne glue in 1.2 liters of water for 1 day. Then it is heated in a water bath until the glue dissolves and the lumps disappear, after which a mixture of 50 g of spar (powdered) and 40 g of chalk is added and 10 g of linseed oil is added while stirring.

A wooden ball of appropriate size is immersed in the mixture for 5 minutes, then the adhered adhesive layer is dried, the operation is repeated 3-5 times, then left to dry for 3 months. Then they are ground and immersed in a solution of lead sugar and aluminum sulfate for 1 hour, dried, polished, immersed in a solution of formaldehyde for 1 hour, dried and polished.

Making knobs, handles, etc. Dissolve in 1-1.2 liters of water, 200 g of gelatin until the syrup becomes thick, add 500 g of kaolin, 200 g of slaked lime, 100 g of white lead. Painted and varnished.

Making buttons: Wood glue is placed in a 10-20% solution of alumina sulfate or acetate, allowed to soak, dried, pressed and processed.

2. Simulated horn: Take horn shavings and sawdust, soften them in a solution of boric acid and arsenic diluted in hydrochloric acid for 6 hours. Then washed and molded at a temperature of 120 °C.

Making cuttings, handles, knobs, mouthpieces, etc.: A mixture of 25 g of table salt, 50 g of cream of tartar, 500 g of potash, 1 kg of lime and 3 liters of water is boiled for 30-40 minutes, then horn waste is added and boiled until a thick mass is obtained, poured into pre-oiled wooden or clay molds. If necessary, the mass can be painted in any color when pouring.

Making buttons, beads, cufflinks, etc.: Waste horns, hooves and shavings are cleaned by boiling in a soda solution, washed, placed in a cauldron and doused with a solution of potash and lime. After 2-3 days, the mass turns into jelly, it is heated, evaporated and pressed.

Making combs, combs, hairpins, etc.: A pattern is made on the horn plate and sawed out, then it is soaked in water for 1 hour and the teeth are filed with a fine file, first on one side, then on the other. Then they polish it with a woolen cloth, first with pumice, then with crushed lime charcoal (rubbing along the fibers of the horn). Then they polish it with flannel, first soaked in vinegar with the addition of table salt, then rubbed with ash, then with chalk.

3. The second way to imitate a horn and make buttons, buckles and other expensive products from it: 800 g of sodium silicate are mixed with 200 g of water and wheat flour is added until a thick paste is formed. The mass is mixed well and left to harden, then it is placed in molds adding the desired dye. Further processing is the same as in the previous method.

4. Imitation tortoiseshell: 200 g of lead litharge, 100 g of lime are mixed with ammonia and a small amount of vinegar until a thick dough is obtained. Then the horn products are covered with this mass and dried in the sun, after which they are polished.

5. Imitation mother-of-pearl: Horn products are immersed for 1-2 hours in a hot 10% decoction of catechu, then in a 5% solution of lead acetate. Then they dry it a little and put it in a 2-3% solution of hydrochloric acid for 10-15 minutes. The result is a silver-white coating with a pearlescent tint.

Product processing and coloring
made of ivory and horn

1. Whitening. Preliminarily cleaned of fat by rinsing in gasoline, then immersed in a solution of hydrogen peroxide and water (1:1) for 18-20 hours, then washed and dried.

2. Etching. Immerse in a solution of 2-3% nitric or hydrochloric acid for 3-6 hours, then wash and dry. Then they are etched: with a solution of tin chloride or sulfate (1 g per 4 liters of water), immersing the products for 10-15 minutes, washed and dried. Then they paint.

3. Coloring. The products are immersed in a vessel with liquid: for every liter of water, 1-2 teaspoons of vinegar and 0.5-1.5 g of aniline dye, for 8-12 hours, periodically removing them and monitoring the degree of coloring. When the desired color is obtained, the products are removed, washed with water, dried and polished.

Yellow. The products are immersed for 10-15 minutes in a solution of 100 g of zinc sulfate per 500 g of water and transferred to a solution of 100 g of potassium chromate per 500 g of water.

Yellow-brown color. Immerse for 15-20 minutes in a solution of 100 g of chromium per 500 ml of water.

Brown color. Immerse in a solution of 100 g of ferric chloride per 1 liter of water, then in a solution of 200 g of chromium per 2 liters of water.

Black color. Immerse 20 g of lapis in 1 liter of water in a solution, add 50 g of liquid ammonia to it and leave for 5-6 hours, then dry until it turns black.

Blue color. 15 g of indigo, 100 g of sulfuric acid - this solution is carefully poured into 1 liter of boiling water. And the products are immersed in it for 3-7 minutes.

Purple. Prepare a solution of 2 g of mityl violet, 3 g of tartaric acid, 1 liter of water, heat to 45-50 ° C and lower the products into it for 40-60 minutes.

Green color. The products are immersed for 30-40 minutes or more, depending on the thickness of the color, in a solution of 20 g of verdigris and 200 g of wine vinegar.

Red color. 50 g of cochineal are infused for 3-4 days in 3 liters of distilled water, filtered, 5 g of alum are added, heated and the products are immersed in it for 30-40 minutes.

Grey colour. It is obtained by adding 30-40% water to solutions for black color.

Silver color. Make a solution of 10 g of lapis in 2 liters of water and 150 g of ammonia and immerse the products in it and keep them until they turn yellow, then put them in distilled water and put them in the light until they turn black, then take them out and rub them with a leather cloth until they turn silver. colors.

Gilding. Immerse in a 2-3% solution of copper chloride, then treat it with gold leaf or coat it with golden ocher.

4. Protection of products from breaking and cracking: Prepare a mixture of 20 g of nitric acid, 20 g of vinegar, 200 g of vodka and place the products in it for 2 hours. Dry and immerse for 10 minutes in a mixture of vinegar and vodka (1:1).

A simple way to make bas-reliefs, small sculptures that do not differ in appearance from ivory products

Molds for making bas-reliefs and sculptures are usually made of plaster. However, gypsum is a very fragile material, and it is also difficult to sculpt complex shapes from it. Therefore, it is better to replace gypsum with a casting material that contains the following substances (in%): Gelatin or wood glue - 30-50; Glycerin - 30-35; Tooth powder - 1-5; Water - 10-15.

Gelatin or wood glue is poured with warm water and left for 1-2 hours, then heated in a water bath to 80°C and glycerin is added while stirring. Then the mixture is boiled for 2-6 hours until a homogeneous mass is obtained, stirring from time to time. The temperature must be constant. Then add tooth powder and mix well. When cooled to room temperature, the casting material becomes elastic and resilient.

If the elastic form is kept for an hour in a formaldehyde solution, it will not soften when heated, although it will retain its elasticity. In this form, it is possible to repeatedly obtain plaster castings, as well as castings from a composition that imitates ivory. This composition includes the following substances (in%): Wood glue - 40-45; Barium sulfate - 2-5; Chalk (tooth powder) - 1.5-2; Drying oil - 5-7; Water - 45-55.

The glue is soaked in water and heated in a water bath until the lumps completely disappear. Powdered fillers are introduced into a homogeneous adhesive solution, stirring it, after which drying oil is added (it can be replaced with linseed or sunflower oil). The resulting mass is poured into a mold, and after hardening, it is removed and kept for an hour in a 5% solution of potassium alum, a 5% solution of acetic acid, aluminum or in a formaldehyde solution. After this, the casting is dried and polished. In appearance it does not differ from ivory products (see picture).

Rice. 1. Sculpture-souvenir “Progress”.

© "Encyclopedia of Technologies and Methods" Patlakh V.V. 1993-2007

Here are several ways to simulate Ivory.

One of the old ways of obtaining artificial ivory is as follows.

Using this method, 8 wt. parts of bleached white shellac are dissolved in 32 wt. parts of ammonia (sp. 0.995, which corresponds to 14% ammonia gas content). Shellac is dissolved at a temperature of 35 to 40° with constant shaking in a closed vessel. After 5 hours, the solution is usually ready and is a liquid with the consistency of syrup. When the shellac is completely dissolved, 40 wt. is added to the solution, with thorough stirring. including zinc oxide (zinc white). The mixture must be mixed well to obtain a completely homogeneous mass. Stirring for more perfect softening can also be done in a paint grinder.

Next, you need to remove ammonia from the mixture, which has already served its purpose. This is done by heating the mass. The mixture is then air dried on glass sheets. After drying, the mass can be molded. To obtain a product of higher quality, the dried mass is ground into powder in a completely dry mill and the crushed mass is pressed. The pressure in the molds is usually maintained at approximately 160 kg per 1 cm2, at a temperature of 125-128°. If they want to obtain objects painted in different tones, then coloring substances are added either to zinc white or when grinding the dry mass.

By melting borax with the addition of a solution of potash, aniline dye and lithopone, a mass can be obtained that, together with zinc white, produces a product that imitates ivory. The composition of the mixture is as follows:

• Drills 40 wt. h.;
• Potash 20 wt. h.;
• Lithopona 75 wt. h.;
• Zinc white 18 wt. h.;
• Asbestos 12 wt. h

Lithopone is a mineral paint whose composition is a mixture of zinc sulfide and sulfur-barium salt.

Depending on the desired shade, add the appropriate amount of dye.

The raw materials for obtaining this mass using another method are glue, alabaster and cellulose. Metal molds are mainly used for casting, since they convey details in more detail than molds made of other materials. Various decorations, inlays for furniture, covers for albums, etc. are made from this mass. In appearance, the mass is completely similar to natural ivory.

The method of preparation is as follows: first prepare the following solutions:

Glue solution

Allow 100 g of good quality light glue to swell in 1 liter of clean well water, dissolve with low heat and filter through a cloth.

Cellulose mixture

50 g of well-bleached cellulose (wood pulp - cellulose cardboard - paper pulp) is kneaded with 3.5 liters of water until a homogeneous fibrous porridge is obtained.

Alum solution

Dissolve 50 g of alum in 1 liter of hot water. The solution should be lukewarm, since if it is cooled too much, alum crystals may fall out.

In a large clay bowl, mix 75% of the adhesive solution and 200 g of cellulose mixture with the addition of 200 g of clean well water. To the resulting mixture add 250 g of the purest possible alabaster gypsum, previously sifted through a sieve. The mixture is thoroughly mixed until the gypsum is completely extinguished and a homogeneous mixture is obtained. Then add 200 g of alum solution and mix everything well again.

The mass thus obtained is poured into open molds, previously lightly greased with some oil. To ensure that the mass is evenly distributed and there are no air bubbles, the mold must be shaken, after which it is left alone until the mass begins to thicken. At this moment, a piece of linen cloth is placed on the mold, and then a wooden or metal plate of appropriate size is placed on the cloth. This plate serves as a kind of lid for the mold. Next they are pressed under pressure. The water separated by pressure flows out quite clean. The addition of alum gives the mass the ability to quickly harden and, in addition, holds the glue in the mass so that with slow, timely pressing, only clean water flows out. After pressing, leave the mold to stand for at least 15 minutes, after which the molded object is knocked out with a wooden hammer.

The molded objects are placed in hot water for a short time to wash off the fat that has stuck to the oiled molds. The molded objects are then dried in drying ovens and finally placed in a hot solution made up of various parts of wax and stearin. Objects soaked through this solution are cooled and cleaned with a soft brush and gypsum powder until a sufficient shine of ivory is achieved. To give ivory a more yellow tint, glue, alum and cellulose are taken in slightly different ratios.

This imitation has the hardness and shine of celluloid, differing favorably from the latter in its non-flammability. It is prepared in the following way.

Dissolve 200 g of casein and 50 g of ammonia in 400 g of water (a solution of albumin in 400 g of water is also used). A mixture of:

Quicklime 240 g

Aluminum acetate salt 150 g

Alum 50 g

Calcium sulfur salt 1200 g

Oil (drying) 100 g (oil should be added to the mixture last)

For dark objects, instead of aluminum acetate salt, take tannin from 75 to 100 g. The indicated compositions should be mixed well to form a uniform paste, which is rolled and thus obtain plates of the desired thickness. These records are either dried and stamped into metal molds that are preheated, or they are ground into a very fine powder, which is then poured into molds and pressed hard.

When the items are made, they are immersed in a bath consisting of:

• Water 100 wt. h.;
• White glue 6 wt. h.;
• Phosphoric acid 10 wt. h.

They are then dried, polished and varnished with shellac.

Imitation ivory from adhesive mass

Billiard balls. Soak for 24 hours 80 wt. hours of carpentry (bone) glue and 10 wt. parts of Cologne glue 120 wt. hours of water. Then heat in a water bath until the glue dissolves and the lumps disappear, after which a mixture of 5 wt. hours of heavy spar, ground into powder, and 4 wt. hours of chalk. Mix thoroughly and add 1 wt. tsp boiled linseed oil.

The preparation of billiard balls from this mass is carried out as follows. A wooden ball of the appropriate size is immersed in the mass for some time, then the adhesive layer adhering to the ball is dried, then immersed in the mass again, dried, etc., until the ball is 1/5 larger than it should be in the future. Next, the ball is left to dry for at least 3 months, then it is ground and immersed for an hour in a solution of aluminum acetate salt. A solution of aluminum acetate salt can be obtained by mixing solutions of lead acetate salt (lead sugar) and a solution of aluminum sulfate salt (aluminum sulfate). In this case, a precipitate of sulfur-lead salt falls out. The filtered solution will be a solution of aluminum acetate salt. After immersion in the solution, the ball is dried again. Next, it is sanded again and left for 1 hour in a formaldehyde solution, then dried again and finally polished, as is practiced with real ivory.

Real bone carving is a very expensive art form that takes a long time to learn. Therefore, you can more often see all kinds of imitations of bone carving. Today I want to show two of my simulation options, which I came to quite recently:

Wood putty;

Silicone molds, a bottle for paste, a cloth or napkins and a good mood!

modeling gel "TAIR" or paste Sonet.

When starting to work on this panel, I already had some experience in creating an imitation of smooth and relief carving on bone. Therefore, I decided to try to imitate the third type of thread - through. I looked at a lot of images, read about this direction and realized that through threads can be used not only as an independent “wall”, it can also be leaned against the base.

Having chosen the silicone mold I liked based on the pattern of the openwork, I filled it with Sonet paste and left it overnight. It is not necessary to fill in Sonnet; you can use modeling gel or TAIR diluent paste. I have already cast openwork lace from Tair modeling gel many times before; I really like the durable and flexible result. The resulting castings can be cut, painted, varnished, and screwed onto any even round surface. Such materials need to be poured and left in a silicone mold for several hours.

So we have two castings that took a day to make. Let's get to work.

The first step is to sand the workpiece, especially at the ends.

Next, let's start making a frame from strands. We tear off a small piece of clay, knead it and place it in the mold. Cut off the excess with a sharp wallpaper knife. There is no need to wait for the clay in the mold to dry. Carefully remove and immediately glue the resulting clay cast onto PVA glue. Lightly and carefully press the flagella onto the workpiece with your fingers. After some time they will stick and we will leave them to dry. Clay takes a long time to dry. There is no need to dry it with a hairdryer, it may crack.

In order not to waste time, we apply the openwork to the workpiece, make marks along the upper arch and cut off the excess with scissors. We try it on, if everything is satisfactory, we lubricate the workpiece with glue and glue the openwork castings. You don't need to do anything to fix them.

I wanted this panel to be some kind of architectural element, so I looked at my castings and found a mascaron mold that was ready for testing. This was a test casting from Sonnet paste, the result of which I was not satisfied with. The cast mold took a very long time to dry, 2-3 days, shrank and the face of the mascaron itself was damaged. Therefore, I no longer use this paste for deep castings; it is only suitable for shallow forms. But since, according to my idea, the panel was made in an architectural style, it was precisely this not very successful casting that came in handy for me. There was already a trace of time on it.

But having tried it on the blank, I realized that it was too small and was getting lost, so I took another mod with a bas-relief image and made a cast from it using clay, which I glued to the blank with glue, and laid the mascaron on top of it and glued it on top. Using the same principle, I made and glued a clay garland.

Now all the finished elements need to be dried thoroughly, about 8 hours

We cover the entire product on all sides with Acrylic-Hobby De Luxe Ivory paint. Let it dry and apply two or three layers of varnish again.

When all the elements have dried, we begin to create the effect of carved bone. To do this, dilute the brown paint with water and begin to fill all the recesses. Don't forget to coat the entire surface to give the desired shade. Carefully remove the excess with a cloth or napkin. After thorough drying, we cover everything with a finishing semi-gloss varnish, dry it, and admire the finished result!

If you want the end result to be completely new, pay close attention to the details on the impressions and castings. I wanted the mascaron, garland and rope frame to look antique and weathered, as they are protruding architectural elements. Therefore, I did not need great accuracy for this work. And, relatively speaking, the damaged nose was a plus, not a minus. But for a perfectly new work, it is still necessary to monitor the quality of the impression or casting and it is advisable to put one layer, no more, of glossy varnish on the most voluminous elements.

I hope you liked my version of simulating through bone carving and you can try it in your works without any problems!

Since ancient times, ivory has been valued as a material for making all kinds of artistic products. However, this material is expensive and rare, so attempts have also been made to make artificial ivory for a long time. At the same time, they tried to give the resulting material not only the appearance of ivory, but also to provide it with the appropriate mechanical properties. To do this, it was necessary to repeat its structure with a certain degree of approximation. Here we will not touch on the structure of teeth (and elephant tusks are overdeveloped teeth), we will only say that teeth are a kind of composite material, some components of which give it hardness, while others perceive tensile and compressive loads. They strive to give the same structure to homemade ivory.

Of course, where high mechanical qualities of a substitute material are not required, it is enough to maintain its external resemblance to the natural original, which makes it possible to simplify the technology of its production. So, when choosing one or another method of obtaining a material that imitates ivory, one usually proceeds from the expected conditions of its use. Note that in all the cases discussed below we are talking about imitation of unpainted ivory - white or slightly yellowish. If there is a desire to have a colored “bone”, it is not difficult to realize it by adding a dye of the appropriate nature to the still liquid ornamental mass (aniline dyes are suitable for almost all of the above compositions).

Now let’s move on to specific practical recommendations that allow you to make “ivory” at home. I will add that all the recipes proposed below were used for counterfeiting ivory about a century ago, when the production of plastics was just beginning to develop.

Recipe No. 1. One part of white shellac (a natural resin of animal origin produced by insects - packbugs) is dissolved in four parts of a 14% aqueous ammonia solution with continuous stirring in a tightly closed vessel (here you will need a mechanical stirrer, but you can do without it, ensuring mixing the components by simply shaking the vessel). The temperature inside the vessel is maintained in the range of 35...40°C. The dissolution process takes about 5 hours. By the end of this period, a syrup-like solution is formed, to which five parts of dry zinc white are added. The mixture is thoroughly mixed and ground until a completely homogeneous mass is obtained. The latter is slightly heated until the smell of ammonia completely disappears, and then dried in air, deposited on a glass plate. The dried (but not dry) mass is molded.

You can do it differently - thoroughly dry the mixture, grind it into powder and press products from the powder (at a pressure of 16 atm and a temperature of 125...130 ° C). The quality of the products in this case will be higher, but ensuring the required pressing mode at home is not so easy. I also note that the composition of the components here and below is given in parts (by weight).

Recipe No. 2. Prepare a mixture of 20 parts borax, 10 parts potash, 38 parts lithopone (mineral paint based on zinc sulfide and barium sulfate) and 6 parts asbestos. Melt all the components, add 9 parts of dry zinc white to the melt and, keeping the mass liquid, mix until homogeneous, then pour into molds previously greased from the inside with oil.

Recipe No. 3. Finely chopped white paper is boiled in water for several hours, ground, strained and, spread out in a thin layer, dried in air under stretched gauze. The result is a light fluffy paper mass. By mixing it with water, a homogeneous, not very thick fibrous porridge is prepared.

Two solutions are prepared at the same time, and for one of them, 100 g of light-grade wood glue is dissolved in a pot of hot water, after which the solution is filtered through a cloth, and for the other, 50 g of potassium alum is dissolved in a liter of water. Next, in a large bowl, mix 8 parts of paper porridge, 3 parts of warm glue solution and 8 parts of also warm water. Add 10 parts of clean, lump-free alabaster here and stir the mixture until it becomes completely homogeneous. After this, add 8 parts of a warm alum solution and mix everything again.

After greasing the metal molds with oil, pour the resulting mass into them and allow it to thicken. Then the molds are covered with canvas and their contents are pressed. The squeezed water passes freely through the fabric, while the remaining components of the pressed material are retained in the mold.

After 20...25 minutes after pressing, take a mallet, knock the castings out of the molds and quickly wash them in hot water from oil. Then the products are dried and dipped into heated colorless floor polishing mastic so that the surface of the material is well saturated with this composition. After this treatment, drying follows. When the “bone” is dry, take a soft brush or woolen cloth and polish the surface of the material with gypsum powder until it acquires a characteristic shine.

The ornamental mass obtained by this method is very similar in appearance to layer bone, but is only suitable for making various types of jewelry and inlay.

Recipe No. 4. Perhaps one of the highest quality materials imitating ivory is neoleukorite. It is easy to turn on a lathe, mill, drill, saw. The combination of the availability of raw materials and the great external resemblance of the resulting material to ivory makes this recipe the most attractive of all the recipes given in this article.

Mix 100 parts of phenol, 185 parts of 40% formaldehyde, 75 parts of 40% sodium hydroxide solution and 38 parts of 50% lactic acid. Place the mixture in a glass flask or other vessel that is resistant to acids and alkalis, and place the mixture in a water bath. Close the vessel with a stopper with a reflux condenser installed in it (if it is necessary to condense the vapors and return them to the reaction zone, reflux condensers are used - with an ascending flow of water; when distillation or distillation is carried out, direct “descending” condensers are used). The installation diagram is shown in Fig. 1. The mixture is heated for 3 hours at a temperature of 60...70°C.

The mass formed during the cooking process is dehydrated under vacuum, while continuing to heat it in a water bath. The vacuum is obtained using a water-jet vacuum pump (Fig. 2). An hour and a half after the start of dehydration, 38 parts of 50% lactic acid are added to the vessel, after which the vacuum pump is reconnected to it.

When the contents of the vessel become viscous and large bubbles appear on its surface, the mixture, without cooling, is poured into molds, and they are placed in a vessel with pure mineral oil. This vessel is placed in an electrically heated sand bath and the mixture is heated for three days, gradually raising the temperature from 75°C to 100°C.

By the end of the specified period, the hardened mass is easily separated from the walls of the molds (the resulting product can be subjected to mechanical processing).

Recipe No. 5. Dissolve 4 parts of gelatin in 20 parts of warm water, add 4 parts of slaked lime, 10 parts of kaolin and 2 parts of dry lead white into the solution, mix everything thoroughly. The resulting mass is poured into metal molds and pressed. The castings removed from the molds are dried and varnished.

Recipe No. 6. Crushed dry wood glue of light grades

soldered into a vessel with a solution of aluminum sulfate or acetate (one part salt to four parts water) and left to swell. The swollen glue is dried and pressed. The resulting mass is cut and ground like bone.

Magazine "Do it yourself" No. 3-04.

Doctors from Imperial College London claim that they have managed to produce bone material that is most similar in composition to real bones and has minimal chance of rejection. New artificial bone materials actually consist of three chemical compounds that simulate the work of real bone cells.

Doctors and prosthetics specialists around the world are now developing new materials that could serve as a full-fledged replacement for bone tissue in the human body.

However, to date, scientists have only created bone-like materials, which have not yet been transplanted instead of real bones, even broken ones. The main problem with such pseudobone materials is that the body does not recognize them as “native” bone tissue and does not adapt to them. As a result, large-scale rejection processes may begin in the body of a patient with transplanted bones, which in the worst case scenario can even lead to a large-scale failure in the immune system and death of the patient.

Brain prostheses.

Brain prostheses are a very difficult, but feasible task. Today it is possible to introduce a special chip into the human brain, which will be responsible for short-term memory and spatial sensations. Such a chip will become an indispensable element for individuals suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. Brain prostheses are still being tested, but research results show that humanity has every chance of replacing parts of the brain in the future.

Artificial hands.

Artificial hands in the 19th century. were divided into “working hands” and “cosmetic hands”, or luxury goods.

For a mason or laborer, they limited themselves to applying a bandage made of a leather sleeve with reinforcement to the forearm or shoulder, to which a tool corresponding to the worker’s profession was attached - pliers, a ring, a hook, etc.

Cosmetic artificial hands, depending on occupation, lifestyle, degree of education and other conditions, were more or less complex. The artificial hand could have the shape of a natural one, wearing an elegant kid glove, capable of performing delicate work; write and even shuffle cards (like the famous hand of General Davydov).

If the amputation did not reach the elbow joint, then with the help of an artificial arm it was possible to restore the function of the upper limb; but if the upper shoulder was amputated, then working with the hand was possible only through voluminous, very complex and demanding apparatus.

In addition to the latter, the artificial upper limbs consisted of two leather or metal sleeves for the upper arm and forearm, which were movably hinged above the elbow joint by means of metal splints. The hand was made of light wood and was fixedly attached to the forearm or movable. There were springs in the joints of each finger; from the ends of the fingers there are intestinal strings, which were connected behind the wrist joint and continued in the form of two stronger cords, one of which, passing along the rollers through the elbow joint, was attached to a spring on the upper shoulder, while the other, also moving on a block, ended freely with an eyelet. If you want to keep your fingers clenched while the shoulder is extended, then this eyelet is hung on a button on the upper shoulder. When the elbow joint was flexed voluntarily, the fingers closed in this apparatus and were completely closed if the shoulder was bent at a right angle.

To order artificial hands, it was enough to indicate the measures of the length and volume of the stump, as well as the healthy hand, and explain the technique of the purpose they should serve.

Prosthetic hands must have all the necessary properties, for example, the function of closing and opening the hand, holding and releasing any thing from the hands, and the prosthesis must have a look that copies the lost limb as accurately as possible. There are active and passive hand prostheses.

Passive ones only copy the appearance of the hand, while active ones, which are divided into bioelectric and mechanical, perform much more functions. The mechanical hand is a fairly accurate replica of a real hand, so anyone with an amputation will be able to relax around people and be able to pick up and release an object. The bandage, which is attached to the shoulder girdle, causes the hand to move.

The bioelectric prosthesis works thanks to electrodes that read the current produced by the muscles during contraction, the signal is transmitted to the microprocessor and the prosthesis moves.

Artificial legs.

For a person with physical damage to the lower extremities, high-quality prosthetic legs are, of course, important.

The correct choice of a prosthesis, which will replace and can even restore many functions that were characteristic of the limb, will depend on the level of amputation of the limb.

There are prosthetics for people both young and old, as well as for children, athletes, and those who, despite amputation, lead an equally active life. A high-end prosthesis consists of a foot system, knee joints, and adapters made of high-grade material with increased strength. Usually, when choosing a prosthesis, close attention is paid to the patient’s future physical activity and his body weight.

With the help of a high-quality prosthesis, a person will be able to live as before, with virtually no discomfort, and even carry out home repairs, purchase roofing materials and do other types of power work.

Most often, all individual parts of the prosthesis are made from the most durable materials, for example, titanium or alloy steel.

If a person weighs up to 75 kg, then lighter prostheses made from other alloys are selected for him. There are small modules specifically designed for children from 2 to 12 years old. For many people with amputation, the emergence of prosthetic and orthopedic companies that make custom-made prostheses for arms and legs, produce corsets, insoles, and orthopedic devices has become a real salvation.