Lets Get Horny

Walosi

Walosi

Joined
Jan 10, 2001
Messages
2,618
No, not like that (but I bet it gets a lot of hits :)

We've gone over horn handle treatment, and discovered Hooflex, Corona Ointment, Fiebing's Dressing, mineral oil, linseed oil, Ballistol, Brylcree...well, you get the picture.
Anyhoo, with oil finishes on wood, a very small amout of the oil goes into the wood, highlighting grain, and forming a protective seal. The wood (possibley due to the steel wooling and sanding between coats) doesn't change diminsion appreciably. How about horn? I've had four horn handles (two went as gifts before I stocked up on horn finishes). Ergo - with experience on two handles, one brand new, what is the interaction between the horn material and the finish medium? Horror stories about horn handle _scales_ from knifemakers in the states would indicate expectations of warping-shrinking-swelling and stinky feet. None of this has happened (at least to the handles, and I've changed socks). My cracked Sirupati UBDOTD has one crack I repaired with Super Glue, and two at the buttcap patched with laha by J&P before it left BirGorkha. After treatment, they are less noticible, but I put the calipers on the handle when it was dry, and there hasn't been a ten-thousandth difference in any diminsion I can get calipers or a mic on. In another post, I said the Dressing darkened one handle dramatically. Tonight, the Sirupati gets a drenching. It has never had more than a light coat of Dressing, but more coats will follow. I'll continue to watch the measurements. Anyone else out there as paranoid as I am about handles and keeping them in top shape? Do you know what I'm talking about - Do I know what I'm talking about? Not really.....HELP :eek:
 
What are you using to dress your handles with? French, Italian, or ranch? :confused:

I assume it's hooflex.
 
Fiebing's Hoof Dressing - Haven't tried it on salad, but the Corona Ointment has a nice spearmint aroma......HOOF SALAD :barf: Uncle posted pics of horn being boiled for curing, but somehow it just didn't appear to be a culinary masterpiece:rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by Walosi
No, not like that (but I bet it gets a lot of hits :)

The wood (possibley due to the steel wooling and sanding between coats) doesn't change diminsion appreciably. How about horn? I've had four horn handles (two went as gifts before I stocked up on horn finishes). Ergo - with experience on two handles, one brand new, what is the interaction between the horn material and the finish medium? Horror stories about horn handle _scales_ from knifemakers in the states would indicate expectations of warping-shrinking-swelling and stinky feet.
Click to expand...

Walosi I think there is possibly more than one problem when the horn handles start cracking.
I also think that even an old well stabilized handle could crack under the right conditions although I also think that the conditions would have to be pretty severe for one to do
so.
I also think that the wood being softer and with a little more give than the horn doesn't have a tendency to crack as badly as the horn which being much harder doesn't have any give when the conditions aren't right for it.
A lot of the problem with the horn is going from a wet or wet cold enviroment to a very dry and or dry hot one and any shrinkage is going to cause it to crack because it has no give when it starts contracting around the hard laha.
I almost believe that some of the laha could be cast into some dayumed effective arrow points.:)
Some of that stuff will fracture just like flint in my experience.

But then I may be the same way as when you wrote: :)
"Do you know what I'm talking about - Do I know what I'm talking about? Not really.....HELP"
Click to expand...
:D

One good indicator that horn has shrunk a bit, I believe is the distance from the edge of the butt cap and the horn compared to wood.
I have pretty much found that on a brand new khukuri there is a greater amount of brass sticking out from around the edge of the the horn handle than there is compared to wood.
I have filed a small groove around the intersection of both horn and wood and the butt cap on all my using khukuris and some that don't see service because the burr left there can be very sharp and uncomfortable.
The corner of a small file carefully used to file the small groove takes care of that burr for good even should the handle shrink any more.
The first few times I tried just fileing the butt cap flat with the handle material and then later on I would find that the horn had shrunk just a bit makeing the sharp edge appear again.
And thats when I came up with the idea of fileing the groove.

I guess I have been lucky although I did start using something on the horn handles after the problems some of the guys were having started.
The only horn handle that has cracked on me is the one on my Gelbu Special, but that was because it was defective in the 1st place. Pala (Kami Sherpa) said to send that one to me at a discount as he knew I could fix it.
It's not always good to let it be known that you're a craftsman.;)
I have used the Bag Balm, Linseed oil, and the Ballistol-Lube.
I prefer the B-L over the others as it isn't quite as messy.

On the other hand I have had 2 wood handle khukuris crack on me. But that was when I was working on them outside in a wet cool enviroment and then brought them in to dry heated fall air.
Same conditions that cause the horn to crack sometimes, but I felt it was my fault as there was little or no oil on these handles and I had taken them down quite a lot making the center sections really thin around the laha.
The good thing is that I was able to save them both with super glue and a Visegrip Chain Wrench.:)

And I hope at least part of this makes sense and are not just the delusional writings of an old phart who didn't get much sleep last night nor a nap today.:D
 
YVSA,

I get it, but it is late and I too am considered "different" as many others say. ;) Whatever that means:confused:
 
...but then, I haven't been getting much sleep either :rolleyes: I've filed the burr around the bolster on all my knives. The brass is very thin at the edge, and flares slightly when the handle is clamped into the bolster, and the butt cap forced down and peened. Same treatment on the butt cap, but mostly to smooth off rough edges. I haven't noticed any shrinkage away from the brass at either end (wood or horn) but with only two horn handles, and a constant temp-humidity since they arrived, they haven't suffered any harsh variations. One thing - Last night both horn handles got another coat of Fiebing's. This AM, the Sirupati was dry, but there was a drop of the oil on the bench that had dropped off the handle when it was set down. It didn't evaporate - the handle soaked up the oil. The WWII had been oiled on successive nights, and last night's coat was not completely absorbed - it was still slightly slick this AM, enough to come off on your hand. Proves to me that even though the horn is dense, it will drink until its' thirst is quenched.
 
That are you doing wheen you file a grove close to the brass? Is it when the horn expands and starts biting into the brass that this is done? Of my vast collection of one khuk, I haven't seen a burr.

What happens if the handle shrinks? Then the pressure would be on the tang. My head hurts :(

I guess it would be the same for wood.
 
Bruise, don't sweat it too much. These things are all handmade, therefore all different, even if they are the same model by the same maker. If you had a burr it would make itself known to you. Maintaining the wood or horn is not hard and needs to be done depending on evnironmental conditions, the pieces of wood or horn themselves and amount of use. Some oiling is necessary, but it is not as bad as it sounds. Some of us around here really enjoy it and try all different kinds of methods and products, but it really is not as complicated as it sounds. These things are built for use and they are built to last. Pound on it all you want.
 
...must go something like this:
Bolster is fitted over tang, and down onto blade, against the filed recesses on blade. Bolster is filled with laha. Handle is fitted over tang and forced into bolster, under enough pressure to slightly flare the thin edges of the brass. Handle is filled with laha. Butt cap is fitted and peened onto tang. Don't know if the laha is allowed to set between these steps, but there is evidence that the handle is forced down onto the bolster with enough pressure to flare the brass. Can't tell if this is a clamped operation, or if it is tapped down with a mallet. The slight edge of the flared brass (usually only 1/32" or so) is ragged, and sharp at a few points around the circumference of the handle. Some places are so slight that the edge can be smoothed with a stone (I use an Arkansas blade-shape, with a sharp edge) and other spots have a jagged edge, where the brass is thinner and has split. These usually give way to a small triangle file, or an automotive point file with a smooth side so as not to cut the handle. They are almost unnoticeable, unless you are practicing changing from a forward to reverse grip, and the tender area between fingers scrapes across them. There is a wide variation in the extent of fine finishing in the handles - I think this "clean up" may be done by the apprentice kamis, and inspected by the maker. Bura, if this is the case, must run a thumb over everything. My Bura GS is absolutely free of any burrs around the bolster, and the only one I haven't cleaned up. The butt cap did need some smoothing, and this is true of every knife I've received so far, to some degree, EXCEPT for the silver-mounted UBE that Sanu did. Every little detail on this knife was cleaned up, as though Sanu himself did it, and used a magnifying glass to check for dings. To quote Uncle, "On a good day, nobody can make a better knife than Sanu". When he is good, he is very, very good, and when he is bad he is above average by yards.
 
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