Horn handle "mod"

[7rip13a]

Evening fellas,

As anyone who has held a khuk with buffalo horn handles would know, they are pretty slick. The HI kamis do an excellent job polishing the horn up, and it does look beautiful, but for general usage, the general consensus seems to be that wood is preferable because it's more "grippy". Earlier today, I decided to mess around with an idea that has been mentioned occasionally on this forum: sanding the horn handle. Don't think I ever saw photos of others doing it, so I figure I'll try it out, give others an idea of how it looks.

Decided to use my 12" AK by Sher (the Tiger) as a guinea pig. It's my first, my most used (so far), and thus also my dirtiest. So if this mod goes pearshaped, at least I haven't really "ruined" a khukuri, as it's already quite well loved. Anyway, I used low grit sandpaper (I think I used 400?), sanding . Here was the initial result, after a quick 10 minutes:

I left the top half untouched, just to show the difference.

After sanding all of it, I used a leather preservative called Obenauf's to help preserve the horn handle, since I don't have any hoof treatment oil. I normally use it on my leather boots, but it's also recommended for use on wood, so I assume that it should do decently with horn as well. How well it works? Only time will tell.

Here's the finished product. I must say I quite like it. Provides decent grippiness too, about equal with my wood-handled khuks.

 

[warty]

Groovy! 400 is still pretty aggressive IMO, I used 800 and barely scratched mine and t changed it night and day. I really must have different hands than ya'll because I rarely find the horn handles so slick I need to rough them up, even wet. Believe me, I am not swinging easy here either tough maybe a bit easier than some since my back is so messed up. Heck, maybe that is it then... who knows? In any case Leo, looks good and I think it came out nicely. Wait until you see how nice of a bit of horn Santosh put on the Bahadur Knife. I hope the camera picks it up, it is filled with swirls and translucence...

 

[kukulza28]

I really must have different hands than ya'll because I rarely find the horn handles so slick I need to rough them up, even wet.

Horn handles, on kukris or other blades, have never given me a problem either
In fact, the buffalo horn is one of my preferred handle materials, I really like it

I prefer the polished to rough buffalo horn though, feels and looks nicer in my opinion.
Usually good form, relaxed but firm grip, and a good handle will prevent me from slipping.

 

[soldbyjim]

I like the mod, gonna give it a try. I really don't care for the horn handles that much. They typically wind up cracked, chipped, or even broken in the hot Texas climate (especially if you leave one in the truck). But I have one horn-handled khuk that has survived without a rehandle job all picked out for the mod.

Thanks, never really though about it.

 

[warty]

try keeping them oiled up with neats foot oil or hooflex and they'll stop cracking on you due to the heat and humidity.