Water buffalo horn

Walt2

Walt2

Joined
Mar 13, 2001
Messages
1,157
Anyone here had any experience with water buffalo horn for scales? Any pros or cons?
 
Personally I avoid it like the plague. It is the most unstable material I have ever used. It takes a beautiful glassy polish but its slick as snot with any type of moisture. It might be better if it was stabilized but I can't say for sure.
 
I have many knives with water buffalo handles/scales. It is a tough material that takes a nice glossy sheen when polished. It is readily workable, similar to deer horn, but a bit less hard. While some of it is jet ebony black, the best is black but also translucent, showing flecks of various subdued colors within. The only con I can think of is that as a natural material, it can be prone to shrinkage if not cared for properly. Those whom are used to stabilized material or those whom do not do regular maintenance on their knives will probably not care for it.
 
Have to agree with Darrin. Smells bloody awful when you work it. Expands and contracts like nothing else on the planet. One knife I made with scales, finished up real nice apart from this little hair that kept popping up, like a pubic hair I geuss, bloody annoying to say the least. The more I tried to get rid of it the more it happened. In the end I gave up and replaced the scales with some stag.
Cheers Keith
 
It stinks horribly when sanding. I only have one knife with it, and it seems ok so far. Time will tell I guess.
 
I use to use it a lot. Don't anymore. Its tough just not very stable. Those scales want to go back to being horn shaped.
 
I used it on my first knife.
It finishes up beautifully but also damages easely.
I prefer wood
 
Beautiful stuff when polished up but moves more than an NFL cheerleader. I'm simply not willing to use it any more, too much chance of putting a defective knife out there.

Kevin
 
Unlike deer antler, Water Buffalo Horn is more a kin to hair then bone.

I does move a bit and tends to show small longitudinal cracks, but is is quite tough (especially across the grain) and rarely cracks enough impact the function of the handle.

There are plenty of Buffalo horn handles still going strong after years of hard use.

Good for a working knife, like a chopper, where the smooth nature of the product lets it move in hand without creating hot spots.

Maybe not so good for a high dollar custom where the customer expects a more stable handle material.




Big Mike
 
Just to add:
The black fittings on Japanese sword/knife Koshirae and saya are traditionally carved water buffalo horn. If worked right and not overheated, it is quite stable and long lasting. It is well suited to hand tools like saws, files, and sandpaper.
One thing you need to remember is some types of insect larvae will eat it, so keep it in a proper place.
 
Used quite a bit of it for hidden tang knives, not so much for full tang. When fully cured and dried, and worked slow and with sharp belts and saws and drill bits it makes for a very tough handle. No it's not as stabile as mycarta or a stabilized wood, but for a natural material if worked rite it's very stabile. Only real down side I've had with it is insects sometimes eat holes in it, good idea to have some moth balls nearby to keep them away. Wouldn't mind trying some that had been stabilized though.
 
It's too dense to be stabilized.
Some horn will shrink, but most is very stable.
Carpet beetle larvae eat horn, as well as wool and cotton. "Moths" don't.
 
It is well suited to hand tools like saws, files, and sandpaper.
Click to expand...
Absolutely, smells like burning hair and rotting beef when power equipment is used, but works wonderfully with rasps, sandpaper, etc... Overheating it with power tools can also add to the tendency to 'move'.

The beetle problem... I've taken to soaking the finished handle for 12+ hours in a boiled linseed oil turpentine mix (50/50%). Not a lot of oil soaks in, but the beetles seem to leave it alone afterwards, I suspect it ruins the taste...:)
 
I have used it with success but like other natural materials you need to make sure it is dried/aged/cured before using on a knife handle. I buy scales and let them sit in my shop for months before I use them.
 
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