Buffalo Horn for Handles?

B

BCK

Joined
Feb 4, 1999
Messages
79
I just completed a fixed blade knife with Water Buffalo Horn Scales... I am happy with the way that it turned out...I found the horn nice to work with, has a nice grain & polished well...I am just wondering what others think of this as a handle material? My biggest worry is shrinkage, as everything is nice & flush right now. Other concerns are wear ability. Also, someone told me that it is subject to worms (of some kind?)Any feed back, good or bad would be great. As usual, Thank-you in advance!!!

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Horn is very subject to changes in temp. It will warp if it gets hot or even really warm. It's also not as durable as Micarta for example, but it really looks nice.

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www.wilkins-knives.com


 
I just got finished a camp knife about 3 months ago, which has water buffalo slab handles on it, and one thing I noticed is that the slabs are starting to lift on the ends.
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I've heard that the pieces of horn are steamed to make them flat and after a while they start to return to their natural curve. I would suggest that you have front and rear bolsters that are "dove tailed" to help hold the ends down. But boy do they make beautiful handles
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Have fun and keep it sharp.

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KSwinamer
 
I have never had the particular problems with water buffalo that has been mentioned. I like it, it is pretty durable from what I have had experience with. It is the original plastic. One thing that you must keep in mind is to not get it too hot when grinding or sanding. It will burn and it may tend to warp if you do. If you do get it too hot, this heat will also transfer to the epoxy that was used to fix it to the tang to beging with and we all know what heat does to epoxy. Use a sharp, new belt for shaping it. A new belt cuts better without producing as much heat.

CLWilkins
 
Actually I did the handle shaping and finishing completely by hand so I dont think heat was the problem

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KSwinamer
 
I put some on a knife that I had built for a buddy and with in a year the handles started to pull away. Now I had real good luck with some that I had turnd and made a pen out of it is holding up real well. I have had good luck with bone, it seems more stable to me,Chris. Top of Texas knives
www.toptexknives.com

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THe Horn Group works ok for handles. One proceedure is to bake it on a flat slab clamped at just under boiling for a couple hourd before using it. This will remove the water . Then DONT GET IT HOT OR PUT IT IN WATER while working it. It should work good.

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