Buffalo Horn Experience

[jedgerton]

I want to turn a pen using Buffalo horn but I don't have any experience as of yet with such products. All I've turned so far are woods and acrylics. Any words of wisdom for working with this material? I'm trying to match a custom made knife I got for Christmas.

 

[ilikewood]

They say to soak it in water for a few hours before turning. Don't know if that works or not, but it is recommended.

I have turned a couple of pens from it and it seems really nice.

 

[gerryr]

I believe that most everyone here, Bill excluded, will advise you to forget it, unless you don't mind having a cracked pen. The stuff is highly prone to cracking, maybe even worse than Snakewood and Ebony.

 

[leatherjunkie]

I turned some buffalo horn from psi into a cigar pen.
My dad just happened to walk into the garage when i was assembling the buffalo horn cigar. Somehow this pen ended up in his pocket that day. I have yet to see that pen since i assembled it.

I didn't know about soaking it in water for a few hours before turning it. I just drilled it and turned it, boy was i lucky.
I asked dad if it has cracked yet and he assured me that it hasen't cracked yet.

 

[ilikewood]

I didn't soak mine either...just going by what the "experts" say.[]

 

[toolcrazy]

I've never turned b-horn, but this don't make any sense to me. Wouldn't soaking the horn make it expand and when it dried out wouldn't it shrink and crack? It would make more sense to make sure it was super dried out before you turned it.

 

[Stevej72]

I made one pen out of buffalo horn and a couple months later it cracked. I don't think I will try another.

 

[ilikewood]

Here is an example of the recommendations....doesn't make sense to me either, but I've never tried it.

http://www.pennstateind.com/catalog/00057.htm

 

[broitblat]

I've made one so far. It is very hard and and smells awful, but sure polishes up nicely.

So far, mine hasn't cracked. I think it's been about a month, now.

Good luck!

 

[leatherjunkie]

Originally posted by toolcrazy
<br />I've never turned b-horn, but this don't make any sense to me. Wouldn't soaking the horn make it expand and when it dried out wouldn't it shrink and crack? It would make more sense to make sure it was super dried out before you turned it.

b-horn may be like a cow horn. I am in the process of making a powder horn out of a cow horn for my black powder rifle.
I had to boil the open end of the horn to soften it up for shaping.
after the horn was boiled for about 10 mins I stuffed a round wooden plug in the open end(thats the end closest to the cows head).
so far it has not cracked yet from drying out and forming to the round plug. I have let it sit for about 2 months now with the round plug in it and no cracks yet.

 

[sptfr43]

Leatherjunkie, I made one of those horns about 25 years ago and it's still fine too.

 

[Russb]

Just wondering how many that had the horn crack used the soaking method?

 

[TellicoTurning]

I've turned about 5 pens from buffalo horn... I don't soak mine either, but the PSI catalog does suggest that you soak in cold water for about 15 hours??
I've had no problems with cracking as yet.

 

[DocStram]

I've turned about 10 or 12 over the past year. None of mine have cracked. Don't ask me what my technique has been. Too be honest with you, I don't know what I'm not doing wrong. There have been a couple of lengthy discussions here about Buffalo Horn cracking. My hypothesis had been that the cracking had to do with which supplier you purchased yours from. That H turned out to be wrong. Others here have suggested that it has to do with your geographical location, climate and specifically, humidity. I'm in Middle GA where we have two kinds of humidity ... "High" and "Ridiculously High".

 

[Penmonkey]

I have made a few pens from it and none of them cracked.

 

[Skye]

I don’t think you'll have a problem with a powder horn because what I think makes them crack is that they constrict around the brass tube till they split. I've always assumed that was the problem, so that would mean something like a powder horn wouldn’t have the same problem.

 

[leatherjunkie]

Originally posted by Skye
<br />I don’t think you'll have a problem with a powder horn because what I think makes them crack is that they constrict around the brass tube till they split. I've always assumed that was the problem, so that would mean something like a powder horn wouldn’t have the same problem.

Skye, that sounds good but you are jamming a solid piece of round wood into the opening of a cow horn.
why woudn't the cow horn do the same thing over time?
the cow horn just may constrict around the plug over time too.

 

[ed4copies]

Last time this was discussed, Frank (Rifleman) did some research and found that there was little correlation between Cow and Buffalo (went to Latin roots and all that stuff).

And, regarding humidity. I am strongly in the camp that believes the rapid CHANGE in temp and humidity have caused about a dozen of mine to crack. Went from indoor show (70Degrees, maybe 50% RH) to the car to go home. Stayed in the car (0 - YES, ZERO - Degress, maybe 3% RH) several hours while I disassembled the booth and loaded the trailer.

Then, they travelled a couple hours in the car with the heater on, but they were in the far back of the Durango, so I doubt the heater had any appreciable effect.

JUST MY OBSERVATIONS!!! This is neither scientific, nor meant to be argumentative. [][]

 

[stevers]

I made a couple of antler pens and key rings about a year ago. Hope they didn't crack. Do know I was glad I had some dust masks available. Antler was very dusty, Would think horn will be similar.

 

[leatherjunkie]

Originally posted by ed4copies
<br />Last time this was discussed, Frank (Rifleman) did some research and found that there was little correlation between Cow and Buffalo (went to Latin roots and all that stuff).

And, regarding humidity. I am strongly in the camp that believes the rapid CHANGE in temp and humidity have caused about a dozen of mine to crack. Went from indoor show (70Degrees, maybe 50% RH) to the car to go home. Stayed in the car (0 - YES, ZERO - Degress, maybe 3% RH) several hours while I disassembled the booth and loaded the trailer.
Then, they travelled a couple hours in the car with the heater on, but they were in the far back of the Durango, so I doubt the heater had any appreciable effect.

JUST MY OBSERVATIONS!!! This is neither scientific, nor meant to be argumentative. [][]

Ed,
thats good to know about the little correlation.
scientific testing is great on these things if you have so much money you dont know what to do with it. Obeservation to me is worth more than scientific testing on items like horns and cracking. Therefore your therory sounds very strong to me.

 

[Skye]

Ed, do you think it's the wrapping around the tube then the restricting around the tube that causes the crack? I'm guessing the cold shrinks it and heat expands it? Do you know which does which?

I guess someone needs to turn one and not insert a tube to test it. Then put it through temp changes.

Junkie, I dunno, I was thinking the wood would have the same shrink/expansion properties that the horn has. The brass tube stays the same, so it's one shrinking and the other not shrinking that causes the crack. Again, that's just my theory.

 

[ed4copies]

Skye,

I THINK (this is the operative word, shows no real evidence) that the pen would be fine if it were kept in a shirt pocket. Temp and humidity would go up and down, but the body would keep it SLOW.

This optimism is based (loosely) on the fact that a couple pens in my office have not gotten any worse (they were already cracked) in over a year.

I WOULD turn a buffalo horn for an order. But I would NOT take them from show to show again. If I were real smart, I would make one for myself and test this theory. HHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm... check back in a couple days.[][][]

They are among my favorite pens!! I DO have blanks!!! HHHHHHMMMMMmmmmmmm...

 

[Skye]

I'm thinking make the holes a little bigger than they should be, use some sort of silicone glue to hole them in place. Something that will cushion and allow for slight constrictions.

Good luck!

 

[jedgerton]

Everyone,

As always, thanks for the great advice and experience! The knife I'm trying to match is mostly buffalo horn on the handle but it also has turquoise inlay. I'll post a pic of the knife and the materials I plan to use later on in order to get more specific recommendations.

Thanks again for all of the great support!

John