horn handle cracking

Rusty

Rusty

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In the thread on buttcaps, Dave K mentioned going to get something at the "horse store" to put on the handle to prevent cracking. Apparently something applied to horses hooves.

Anything that would reduce cracking would mean a great deal to HI economically as I understand it, since Bill has to sell those knives with cracked handles as blems or at an otherwise reduced price.

Dave K, what in blazes did you get? What is it's name? How much do you have to use? How long would a can ( jar ) last?

What I am thinking is that if a hoof treatment prevents cracking, Kami can take some back to Nepal with him and both shop 1&2 can treat their horn handles before shipping. Do it sparingly, so what they have lasts a while.

Then on getting a new shipment in, Bill, who is over here where he can get it easily and relatively cheaply here since shipping the stuff halfway around the world is not involved, slathers more of it on each knife to make *SURE* it stays uncracked, at least until well after the customer gets it.

Then it becomes the customer's responsibility to keep it from cracking, not HI's, as long as HI lets them know what to use and how.

Any other suggestions for reducing cracking of handles? I want HI to make a profit, pay it's employees decent wages, AND BE STILL AROUND NEXT YEAR AND THE NEXT AND....
 
Rusty,

I'm betting the product Dave K is referring to is called "Hoof Flex". It is a moisturizer that you rub into your horse's hooves to prevent them from drying out. It's also used when treating (I can't remember the malady.... haven't had horses in 15 years) a condition where the pad under the hoof has acquired a "rot" condition like a mildew or fungus. Really stinks and can be dangerous to the horse. You soak the hoof, apply a Vet's prescription and top it all off with Hoof Flex.

Since the hoof of a horse is not to dissimilar to horn, I think it'd be a good agent to apply to keep the horn's moisture content intact. Excessive dryness is what leads to shrinkage and cracking.



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-=[Bob Allman]=-

I did NOT escape from the institution! They gave me a day pass!

BFC member since 3 Oct 98
AKTI membership pending
VHA and NRA member

 
Hey. Saw your post Rusty. Well, I went to my local feed store and got some Straight Arrow brand "Original Hoofmaker."

I know nothing about horses and there were many brands to choose from, but it was about 7 bucks for 32 oz of stuff to protect the handle of a 175 dollar knife so I said "why not?"

I originally got the idea from the literature Uncle Bill sent me when I got my first khukuri.

Granted, I live in the humidity of Portland OR so maybe rust is more of a threat than dry, cracked handles anyway.

Hopefully others will have more knowledge and better advice than I do!

-Dave
 
Horsemen call the condition Thrush.Horn and wood need,at least, a year of seasoning to stabilize.The kamis may be cutting this because of the unprecedented created by this forum. That`s why I like the handles a wee bit oversize to allow for shrinkage.The kami glue may compress enough to allow this.Hoof dressing would be fine,and neats foot oil would be fine,it`s made from hooves.More people have it around.
 
I like your idea, Rusty.

Pala just arrived and asked if somebody would send him a jar-can of this stuff. He is as sick of cracked handles as anybody and said he would take a jar back and apply the salve (or whatever it is) to every horn handle as soon as it was completed to see if it helps. Since he was raised on a farm with a considerable number of cattle he thinks it cannot hurt.



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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
Hey Uncle Bill!

I would gladly send Kami Sherpa my 32oz jar of hoofmaker, though I must stress that I personally _really_ don't know what the hell I am talking about here.

A little bit of it does seem to go a long way. I would estimate that I have so far maybe used about 1/2 ounce out of an estimated 32 ounces total.

Just let me know if you would like to see it and I'll throw it in the mail immediately.

-Dave
 
Dave, Pala said he would gladly accept it and would be more than willing to use it. He is sicker of cracked handles than anybody.

Although he did not say this and would probably reprimand me for doing so you can be certain that you will get some sort of gift in return.



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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
:
Uncle Bill,Et al.
My daughter has horses and I was asking her about the hoof preserver a while back.She said that it was good.

She also said that anything that had
_Lanolin_ as a _prime ingredient_ would work just as well.We were talking about this as she was treating her beautiful Black Stallion ( he still thinks.
smile.gif
) Amigo for thrush.

So Dave.What is the prime ingredient of the hoof preserver you got?
The reason being is that there may be other products that are cheaper.They may be obtainable in Nepal and both would be a plus........
The more costs are held down the more that can go to the people who make our fine Khukuris'.imo.

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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.

Himalayan Imports Website http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html

 
ghostsix,

Thanks for the sanity check on that malady... yup! thrush is what I was trying to remember. I guess I've done a better job of putting all the horse related stuff out of my mind than I thought. Plus the 15 years didn't hurt either. Reason? My ex got the horses; I got my boys
smile.gif
! You know who got the better of than deal!!!!

------------------
-=[Bob Allman]=-

I did NOT escape from the institution! They gave me a day pass!

BFC member since 3 Oct 98
AKTI membership pending
VHA and NRA member

 
Once again Yvsa weighs in with the voice of experience, as usual.
smile.gif


Well, I looked at the ingredients and it's got all kinds of stuff in it. Lanolin is pretty far down in the list but it also has Coconut oil, vegetable oil, and castor oil.

I was thinking the same thing your were Yvsa that there has got to be something available in Nepal. I assume they must still use some sort of domesticated hooved animals in agriculture and commerce, but perhaps they don't pamper them like these American girls and their horses.
wink.gif


I figure you and Kami Sherpa have better things to do than tour your local feed stores, Uncle Bill, so I'll be glad to send it out tomorrow for you (unless you say otherwise), but I gotta get it off my chest that I am still pretty ignorant about this stuff and I can _guarantee_ you that it's not some kind of rare precious elixir or something.

Still, I have a lot of respect for Kami Sherpa and I realize his time is valuable.

Hell, he had already served in the Indian Army many years before my parents even got married, so he is by far my elder, and if he wants it, I does it...

-Dave
 
Dave, you have a deal and with the thanks of Pala.

In Nepal I don't think there is a single vet to care for animals. (There are less than 20 dentists for more than 20 million people to put things into perspective.) If you get a bite from a dog it means a trip to the hosptial for rabies shots. Animal care is almost non-existent.

Back in Nepal I was doing some volunteer research for a project aimed at increasing milk production in dairy cattle. I was shocked into disbelief when I discovered that the average milk cow produced only a liter or two of milk per day. Reason, disease and malnutrition.

In a country where the much of the populace is worried about getting enough to eat themselves you can imagine the care extended to animals.

When Pala first visited a supermarket here he was astounded at the amount of pet food available and commented, "In Nepal there is not that much food available for humans."

Hoof lubricant? You gotta be kidding.



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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
Uncle Bill

I would think just about any good moisture barrier applied to the horn before leaving Nepal would decrease the chances of splitting. Some moisture would still escape from the inside and both ends, but the rate of loss may be slow enough for the horn to stabilize.
You may still be able to apply it in Nevada before the horn gets desicated.
Once it gets too dry, a penetrating lotion might work. In a live animal the moisture comes from the growth center and quick or white line. It works its way out from the inside and base. Once the horn is dead, getting moisture all the way back through is hard to do. Seems like it would be much easier to prevent than correct.
I use olive oil on the blade and handles. Of course in Oregon drying out is not as much of a problem as in Nevada.

As to thrush, it is a conditon of too much moisture and rot of the bottom of the hoof; the frog and sulci. Treatment is to cut away the necrotic tissue, move the horse out of the conditions, and dry out the hoof.
Corrective shoeing, topical treatments, teatnus shot, and antibiotics may be necessary.
Seems like there are several horse people on this forum who knew about this condition.

At least one volunter organization in the USA has sent veterinarians to Nepal. They must get the medicines donated or purchase themselves. They pay their own way and live with the people.
I did not know there weren't any Nepalese vets.
Dr Jim



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What? Another knife? Don't you have enough of those things already?
How many does one person need?
And just what are you going to do with this one that you can't do with the others?
What is the purpose of all these knives anyhow??

 
Jim, I don't know for certain whether there are vets in Nepal or not. I never ran across one or even heard of one but there could be.
What I can say for certain is if there are they are not taking very good care of the animals. A liter a day from a valuable milk cow!

On most farms which have animals it is the duty of the owner to care for the animals and they use remedies which have been passed down through the ages. As one might imagine the poorer farmers provide poorer care for their livestock. Up at Kamis' ranch one of the great struggles was providing enough food for the animals during the long and harsh Himalayan winter. They often cooked huge pots of various grain concoctions for the animals but the animals still suffered and lost weight during the winter.



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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
20 years ago I was at the Kopan monastery in Nepal. I was going to the library, and there was a Nepalese pooch tied up to one of the posts near the entrance. I reached out to pet him, and he bit me twice in the hand before I even started to jerk it back. That dog was really fast. I debated with myself about getting the rabies shots, but in the end I decided to gamble. I won.

One of the most vivid memories of my life is of some dogs in the hills of Nepal. (The weak of stomach may wish to stop reading now.) The dogs in the hills were almost invariably skinny and hungry. I had just eaten a meal in a smoke filled hut. I had been treating my water with iodine for several days, and I think that the iodine had killed some of my intestinal flora. In any case my digestion was not good. I went outside to vomit. As I went outside the two household dogs approached. When I threw up the two dogs snapped the vomitus out of the air before it hit the ground. The sight of their bared fangs, snapping inches from my face, and the sound of their teeth clacking, has never left me. The dogs meant no harm, and in fact were quite friendly. They were simply very, very hungry.
 
It seems both wood and horn handles face cracking problem!

I read in some websites that they make knife handle with leather and other thin but strong materials. They cut leather about the proper width & thickness of a handle, put a hole at the centre part, place it thru the knife tang and paste one and another with epoxy. The pix shows a nice looking handle that won't crack!
 
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