Hornswoggled!

[Will Power]

 

[Rufus1949]

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Beauty Will.
There is so much to be said for the texture of horn, as seen in your knife.

 

[waynorth]

Astounding example! The Mufflon must have come from the summit of Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc)

I had a nice white one also. but I only needed one, so I moved it on!! Foolishly!!!

 

[Will Power]

Rufus1949 Many thanks Bob. Was having a discussion on the Stockman thread as a member had posted his RAT Ram's Horn Stockman which reminded me of this fixed. Got lucky with the gnarly texture with this one, it's not actually seen much use as the blade although sharp is very broad. Stuck in Puukko ways as it were

Ram's Horn when good is on an equal footing with decent Stag, different, but both really rewarding scales .

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

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Gorgeous horn bob

 

[Rufus1949]

Gorgeous horn bob

Thanks Jack. Lighting was just right.

 

[black mamba]

Will, that gnarly ram's horn is as good as it gets! I have a Hen & Rooster with similar texture.

 

[Rufus1949]

Two Frenchmen.

 

[Pt-Luso]

 

[lambertiana]

I like the translucent horn.

 

[draggat]

 

[Pt-Luso]

I like the translucent horn.

Thank you very much.

 

[Pt-Luso]

 

[Horsewright]

Some recents, a Sonoran Hunter with an ironwood spacer:

The opposite side of the scale size wise a Mestano:

Some current knives:

A Gordo with a rosewood spacer:

A Mestano:

And a Coyote:

 

[SteveC]

 

[sceva]

Do you need to take any special precautions with horn? I seem to remember that powder post beetles or carpet beetles could be a problem

 

[draggat]

Do you need to take any special precautions with horn? I seem to remember that powder post beetles or carpet beetles could be a problem

Yes and no. I have quite a few horn knives, so I'm pretty diligent in protecting them. I dust the carpet around the chests/cabinets they are stored in with food grade diatomaceous earth, which is a natural carpet beetle repellent/pesticide. It can be hazardous if you breathe it, so keep that under consideration.

Also, I keep open jars of cloves, recharged with clove oil in the drawers themselves. Not sure if that works, but I read somewhere that it repels pests.

Horn shrinks and swells based on your location's relative humidity. Where I'm at, along with central heating and air, it does get somewhat dry, so I wipe them down with pure lanolin a couple times a year to help moisturize them.

I tend to be a bit overzealous though, so this is probably extreme.

Since I'm here, another horn!

 

[waynorth]

Also, I keep open jars of cloves, recharged with clove oil in the drawers themselves. Not sure if that works, but I read somewhere that it repels pests.

Horn shrinks and swells based on your location's relative humidity. Where I'm at, along with central heating and air, it does get somewhat dry, so I wipe them down with pure lanolin a couple times a year to help moisturize them.

I tend to be a bit overzealous though, so this is probably extreme.

Better safe than sorry with Horn!! Nice!!

 

[draggat]

Better safe than sorry with Horn!! Nice!!

Thanks Charlie! Yes, I think once you have an infestation, the value probably drops quickly!

 

[Will Power]

Tend to think this beetle invasion thing is overblown. Most infestation occurred when the Horn was in store in sheds etc. These past decades with regular vacuum cleaning and household cleaning agents, the pests are very unlikely to thrive. Recall that when the 2018 Forum Knife's handles were being 'debated' there was an outbreak of catastrophe culture hysteria about opting for Ram's Horn....People thundering about infestation of the house and it being ruined, the collection lost forever- they must have been living in Termiteville or allowed very crazy areas of their mind to dominate... that year we got American Elk a very satisfactory slab. In 2020 we were fortunate to get a knife at all and with Ram's Horn, again there was gibbering about beetles ....some character even disinfected his knife on arrival or some such abject hypochondria

Have here been subsequent reports of Forum Knife handles chomped into oblivion? No. The main problem with horn is low grade material not sufficiently treated-this will warp. Major dryness of the air under 20% can cause shrink and curl. Bovine horn seems the worst. My collection of European horn handled knives have shown no problems. Couple of English knives warped but they arrived poorly fitted anyway. As for beetles, they've shown no inclination to invade wish mosquitoes, horse and elk flies were the same

There's no harm in taking precautions, some vintage knives show bore holes but I wonder if the holes were there already when the slabs went on? Whatever, Horn is a great material .