Hi, I had the rear claws pulled (replaced with synthetic ones) from my brown bear hide, since both of my sons wanted bear claw necklaces. Any ideas how to remove the fishy smell from them before tumbling them to polsih them and having them drilled for a necklace?

Try soaking in lemmon juice.

Simple Green. Best fish smell remover ever!

Thanks, any ideas what type of media I should put in my tumbler to smooth them out and polish them before I turn them over to the homemade jewelery shop?

Some good ideas. I'd probably just run with baking soda followed by a good water rinse. You might just buff them with a cloth wheel and a bit of fine polish instead of tumbling.

Packing them in coffee for a week or so should get the fish smell gone.

Brasso does a fine job, though not as glossy as some. Mrs. Wright's Silver Polish is the standard used for baleen, which is the same stuff, and will give a higher gloss than the Brasso.

I would never tumble them.

Espresso or latte'?

Not much coffee can't do! I am not refined enough to know the difference in the nose!

Coffee is a great odor killer... burial mound ivory artifacts are often packed in coffee for a while to kill smells and new ivory is often packed in there to "age" it, too.

Here I thought bear claws had little chunks of apples in them. Never had any with fish. But they are good with coffee, I'll give you that!

And no one has taken advantage of the opportunity to tell the one about Adam and God discussing Eve's personal hygiene?

Yup. It's akin to the "activated carbon" approach to organic odors. Charcoal briquets in stinky freezers serves a similar purpose.

When I'm fishing and my hands get slimy I use hand sanitizer and that clears up the smell.

Massengill

lol