cow horn

[Rifleman1776]

Recently someone sent me an off-list e-mail asking advice on turning pens from cow horn. I don't understand why he asked me. [] Let's see, I'm a historical reenactor who makes things from a lot of natural materials, including cow horn, I raised cattle and saved horns, I collect powderhorns, the road I live on is Powderhorn Way. Oh, well. Anyhow, my first response was "not a good idea". It is very tough stuff that doesn't like cross-grain cutting. Imported water buffalo horn has a different consistency and may be easier to work. It is very unlike antler, no similarity at all. Well, digging through my reenactment 'stuff' I found four solid horn tips about 2" long. Possible pen blanks. Uh-oh, I might be making trouble for myself. I do know, very sharp tools are a requisite and a light touch a must. I'm venturing into strange territory here. Will give a report later. Anyone out there ever tried turning cow horn? [?]

 

[Guest]

Old Grizz paoted a picture of a pen he made out of cow horn not too long ago .You might try a search.

 

[Old Griz]

Here it is
It is tricky to turn and if you give it a coat of BLO before the final finish it takes on a real nice translucence.... it kind of turns like a chippy acrylic...
I was lucky enough to find a horn with almost 5.5" of solid tip.. will probably never see one like that again... LOL... this one sold for $150 because of the scarcity of the material...

 

[Rifleman1776]

Thanks. Interesting. I'll let y'all know the results, regardless of how disastrous.
BTW, did you sand while turning, or by hand with the grain?
Frank

Originally posted by Old Griz
<br />Here it is
It is tricky to turn and if you give it a coat of BLO before the final finish it takes on a real nice translucence.... it kind of turns like a chippy acrylic...
I was lucky enough to find a horn with almost 5.5" of solid tip.. will probably never see one like that again... LOL... this one sold for $150 because of the scarcity of the material...

 

[jwoodwright]

And this City Slicker thought they were real thin, throughout...[:0]

I figured that's why they were used for powder and such...[:I]

That is One Beautiful Pen...[]

 

[Old Griz]

Both Frank... I always turn with the grain on each grit after turning on the lathe... with the cow horn you need to be very careful about heat when sanding or it will split all over the place... that is one of the reasons I used BLO as a first finish coat.. the BLO soaks into the horn and basically lubricates the layers. If you look closely at the top of the pen near the back of the front barrel you can see a layer that almost separated on me... the final finish was 4 coats of CA followed by Hut Plastic Polish and very light buffing to keep heat down..
Old horn artisens used to heat horn in linseed oil to soften it so it could be flattened to make combs and other flat works. When treated with BLO the horn also takes on that translucence that you don't get when you soften by boiling in water. The only big problem was that horn treated with BLO needed a much longer time to dry in shape than horn done in water. I also used to be a re-enactor... did French and Indian.. had a beautiful custom made Jaeger rifle that was stolen on the way home from a trip to the Thousand Islands... after that I got out of the hobby.. just could not afford to replace it and decided not to play anymore..