How much does horn darken?

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
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I know stag darkens with time, and my amber bone Case peanut darkened with a fw years steady use. But I just noticed tonight, that when I was cleaning up my resolza from the fish guts, the horn handle had become darker from what it was a few years ago. I looked back on some old pics of it, and it does seem darker. Not being familiar with goat/rams horn, I was not ready for it, but I think I like it. It's like stag when it gets that mellow yellow tint to it.

Here's a pic taken not long after I got it.
9514273564_9874dc8914_c.jpg


Here it is tonight. Same kitchen counter, same light fixture overhead.
16513113642_f8a58223ca_c.jpg
 
Darker and more translucent, just like oiling wood. Also fills up the pores and helps to "stabilize" an inherently unstable material so it may not shrink or warp as much.
 
I like the darker look a lot. I didn't know that horn changed that much. You've really got me wanting a horn handled knife now. :thumbup:
 
jackknife said:
I know stag darkens with time, and my amber bone Case peanut darkened with a fw years steady use. But I just noticed tonight, that when I was cleaning up my resolza from the fish guts, the horn handle had become darker from what it was a few years ago. I looked back on some old pics of it, and it does seem darker. Not being familiar with goat/rams horn, I was not ready for it, but I think I like it. It's like stag when it gets that mellow yellow tint to it.


16513113642_f8a58223ca_c.jpg
Click to expand...

I picked up a knife with a horn handle about a month ago, and its "new" color reminds me a lot of your knife's "aged" color. Mine's from Spain; I wonder if Spanish and Sardinian knife makers deal with horn differently before it goes onto a knife?

BbLjvPq.jpg


- GT
 
Horn does darken indeed, especially blond horn. I don't think there is much difference in the way horn is treated all over the Mediterranean, and the main source (at least for ram's horn) might be the very same. But, just like any other natural material (stag for example), you can find a huge variety (not just color): also, there is some difference between ram's horn, cow horn and buffalo horn. :)
Here, most blond horn knives tend to be a bit like Carl's when they're made, and darken over time and use. Sometimes you see a new knife with a richer, deeper tone of blond, but most knife will get there eventually.
Apparently, even sunlight seems to make it darken faster. Personally, I do prefer horn when it's darker (either by nature or time).
I will take some pictures of my dad's knives to show some difference in tone and darkness.

Fausto
:cool:
 
Beautiful Joker, GT!!

I noticed the horn on my resolza a few months ago seeming to be darker than when I first got it a few years ago. Only going back and looking at pics from the first day did I really see it. A couple of years being handled, used on different foods, fishing and cutting bait, cleaning the fish.

My own private theory is, that being a semi porous material of organic roots, it just may be more susceptible to being influenced by oils in the sin of our hands, whatever organic materials it comes in contact with while being used as a fishing knife and general pocket knife. Since this is my very first knife with a horn handle, I'm in uncharted territory as far as experience goes.

If your Joker is already that color, I do wonder if it was treated with some kind of oil or wax before it left the factory?
 
quattromori said:
Horn does darken indeed, especially blond horn. I don't think there is much difference in the way horn is treated all over the Mediterranean, and the main source (at least for ram's horn) might be the very same. But, just like any other natural material (stag for example), you can find a huge variety (not just color): also, there is some difference between ram's horn, cow horn and buffalo horn. :)
Here, most blond horn knives tend to be a bit like Carl's when they're made, and darken over time and use. Sometimes you see a new knife with a richer, deeper tone of blond, but most knife will get there eventually.
Apparently, even sunlight seems to make it darken faster. Personally, I do prefer horn when it's darker (either by nature or time).
I will take some pictures of my dad's knives to show some difference in tone and darkness.

Fausto
:cool:
Click to expand...

Ah, Fausto, I was typing at my usual glacier speed when you replied!:D

I like the darker hue that is developing with the horn. I guess it's like stag after all with a mellowing of the color with the years of use. :thumbup:
 
jackknife said:
Beautiful Joker, GT!!

I noticed the horn on my resolza a few months ago seeming to be darker than when I first got it a few years ago. Only going back and looking at pics from the first day did I really see it. A couple of years being handled, used on different foods, fishing and cutting bait, cleaning the fish.

My own private theory is, that being a semi porous material of organic roots, it just may be more susceptible to being influenced by oils in the sin of our hands, whatever organic materials it comes in contact with while being used as a fishing knife and general pocket knife. Since this is my very first knife with a horn handle, I'm in uncharted territory as far as experience goes.

If your Joker is already that color, I do wonder if it was treated with some kind of oil or wax before it left the factory?
Click to expand...

Thanks, Carl! I usually am a quite rational guy, a mind-over-heart type. But I'm occasionally completely blind-sided by the strong emotional forces that hit me in the knife corner of my life! :eek::confused::eek: The first time I saw a horn-handled Joker in Spain, I suddenly had a "fever" to get one. It took me a couple of cities before that actually happened, but I got one! :D As Fausto points out, this "blond horn" was much different than the photos of dark horn I'd seen, and created quite the yearning!

But I have no idea what sort of treatment Joker used on the horn. Shoot, if a lifelong knife guy like you is in uncharted territory on horn, a knife rookie like me is totally clueless!
 
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