Need advice on working horn

V

VML

Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
151
I've got a BAS with a chip of horn missing from the base of the hilt, leaving some of the brass butt cap exposed. I would like to re-contour the horn and brass to exclude the missing portion, but have never worked horn or brass. I have access to hand tools and a Dremel. I know this is pretty basic, but I don't have much experience at this. Thank you for any suggestions.

Khuk_repair.jpg
 
I have a wood handled one where I filed the brass and reshaped the wood with sandpaper. I've never repolished horn but folks say it can be done. Brass is pretty soft and easy to file or sand. The horn is similar to sanding dense plastic. As some say, work slowly because it's difficult to unsand something.
 
It's an epoxy fill job. If you have some black horn to spare sand it and save the dust to mix with epoxy. No horn, black plastic dust might work just as well. Fill and then finish. If you do a good job it is almost invisible.
 
Just to be safe, don't breath the horn dust.
if you file or sand it, add whatever you use to treat horn
to catch the dust to be wiped away.
Unless, you need dust to add to epoxy,
then just sand it course to minimize airborn particles,
and don't sneeze :)

You've heard the best option, reconstruction.

Other alternatives,
depending on your bent:

gently file/sand the break flat,
then gently hammer the brass over it,
then gently round off the edges with fine sandpaper.

cut off the extended brass & gently file the whole area smooth.
 
Approach it as a good dentist would a tooth restoration; it is always more wise to add material if possible rather than removing it. If you're meticulous, it should be almost invisible as Uncle Bill mentioned... If it doesn't turn out like you like, you can always carefully sand it to shape as a last resort.

Dan :)
 
I read that a little dab of black shoe polish will color epoxy to match horn. Never tried it. Any black pigment will work, though. Sanding horn and brass is easy. Start with medium grit and go down in grit untill you get to 400 or 600 grit silicon carbide paper, then hit the whole handle with #0000 steel wool to even everything out. Don't skip any grits, and you'll remove the previous scratches and replace them with finer ones, until they're too small to matter. A polishing wheel and polishing compound aren't necessary if you like the satin finish you get with #0000 steel wool. I think it has a nice grip to it. :cool:
 
Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your knowledge with me. I think I'd like to obtain a small piece of horn and shape it to fit, blending the cracks in with darkened epoxy. Are there sources of horn you are of? Would domestic horn be significantly different? Thanks again.
 
Knifemaker's Supply houses are one bet. If you are in a major city, you will find bead shops. They usually carry red, amber, and black beads made from buffalo horn, some quite large. I've used those beads to file material off of, place it in a crack, and add superglue. Repeat as needed and then sand down to match rest of the handle.
 
Thanks, Rusty. Another good idea. I'm in Fort Worth and, believe it or not, there is a steer horn shop here. I went there once with a friend who would cut them to mount on the hoods of his radical jeeps (to resemble rhino horns). It was a residence with piles of horns in every room and stacked five feet high all through the back yard. I guess he's tapped into a slaughterhouse somewhere.
 
VML--I think you might have better luck with filling the whole chip with epoxy mixed with horn or something else to make it black instead of trying to glue a shaped piece of horn into place. Even clear epoxy by itself makes a pretty nice repair on horn; mixing in something to match the handle color should make it nearly invisible after you sand it down and polish it a bit.

--Josh
 
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