I would clean as well as possible, cut to size and put in in a dry box about a week before doing anything. I degrease everything before a glue up with Acetone. Wear a mask messing with grinding or sanding any biological material.
After you know your bone is dry,I would rub super glue on it to seal the surface,and then sand and polish. I have gotten good results with polished Elk horn handles done like that. I buff with white jewelers rouge. A lot of buffing will give an attractive look of depth to the finish with Elk.
