Watching Buffalo Horn age

KYenglish

KYenglish

Joined
Nov 26, 2010
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Hey all,

don't know if this will interest anyone else but I've been trying to keep track of how my GEC 68 white owl in buffalo horn ages over time and with extensive, near permanent use and handling. The shield side of this knife was often confused with ebony in pictures .

Here it is a year and half ago or so:

Shield side

reverse side


and today

shield side


reverse side



it definitely feels to me like the scales are changing, the grain on the shield side is getting increasingly pronounced and the texture of the reverse side seems different as well, I worried about the reverse side because of ht ride but it shows no sign or cracking or anything like that, it just becomes more figured and the colors more stark.

Anyway, it's still my most constant EDC knife and it still cuts stuff so :) I also like the way it's aging personally,

Thanks all
 
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My guess is that the horn was not dry enough when hafted. Could be wrong also! When I receive horn I let it sit for a few years.
 
I'm disappointed in this one, on account of the horn shrinking so badly. You can see the gap in this photo

DSC_1222.jpg
 
Thanks for sharing. Definitely interested in seeing how true EDC knives age/change over time. I don't know anything about Horn like that so can't comment, I'm sure others can. But it's definitely taking some character.

Glad to see you're enjoying it and giving it daily carry as it was meant to be!
 
Interesting photos. I have a Canal Street Cutlery that I really like with buffalo horn handles. Unfortunately I am afraid to carry it for fear that the beautiful horn handles will not hold up. Have you put any mineral oil on your scales?

Jim
 
I think horn and ivory are two of the most sensitive to atmosphere changes material there is. I know that a couple of old time knife makers always put a little mineral oil or something on their ivory and horn handles. Not a lot, but a nice rubdown once in a while. If the horn was not well aged before using, shrinkage can be bad.
 
I'd be interested in seeing how it holds out. I have a few knives with buffalo horn but don't carry them.
 
Grateful said:
Interesting photos. I have a Canal Street Cutlery that I really like with buffalo horn handles. Unfortunately I am afraid to carry it for fear that the beautiful horn handles will not hold up. Have you put any mineral oil on your scales?

Jim
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Nope, it gets a little oil on it when I treat the blades on occasion, but nothing much,

thanks for the comments all,
 
So glad you posted this. I was looking at a horn handled knife the other day and just had no basis for how it would hold up.
Great info and I love the look of your handle as it ages.
 
blademan 13 said:
Looks great. The best character is that which you help form.
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thanks, blademan, well said!

fot0 said:
So glad you posted this. I was looking at a horn handled knife the other day and just had no basis for how it would hold up.
Great info and I love the look of your handle as it ages.
Click to expand...

Happy you found it useful, I'm enjoying seeing these other examples to for the same reason as you, hadn't seen much about how horn ages.
 
Horn can be temperamental but if it has been cured properly it should present no problems. I have an older David Laguiole I bought in 1990 and I believe it had been in the shop in France a while...now it's been exposed to totally dry scandi indoor winters it's behaved OK. Does show some shrink but this disappears when the humidity is up. I feel it's a more fragile material than bone or stag so some more care needed not to go banging it about or dropping....but after nearly a quarter century this one has held up excellently. Darker horn tends to lighten with streaks whereas light/blonde horn tends to darken in my exprience.

Watch out for those horn beetle worms though!:eek::D
 
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