Buffalo Horn

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mikeschn

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Lake Orion, MI
A number of months ago I made a pen using Buffalo Horn. It turned out nice. So I took it to work and put it in my drawer.

Fast forward to today. I grabbed that pen out of my drawer, and thought, gee that looks funny. I took a closer look, and sure enough it had split, on both sides, (only 1 side shown on the pic).

Why would buffalo horn split like that? It wasn't out in the harsh elements. In fact, it was well protected in the drawer.

Any ideas?

Mike...

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That is distressing ! . No idea why that would happen unless the pressing in of the end cap stressed the brass tube, which in turn stressed the buffalo horn to the splitting point

Thanks for posting ... I will treat my buffalo horn blanks with care and take precautions to avoid what you experienced.
 
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That really is a shame. I do not know if material like that expands and contracts as wood does. Maybe there was just a hairline crack in when you made it and it just finally opened up if it was drying out. Not sure how much of a patch you can do without making it look noticeable.
 
I have made several pens from buffalo horn and over time even stored inside they tend to crack over time some more than others.
 
horn

edstreet said:
I have posted a HUGE thread on this subject. Search 'give me a home where the buffalo roam'. I have revealed the key to this problem.
Click to expand...

Please post the thread ED I would like really like to read it..............
 
OK this is the truth. My wife takes about 20 of my pens to work to sell for me every day.She works at the Airport mid shift. First thing this morning she has 2 Buffalo horn pens. A Patriot Fountain and a Gatsby.One gray and one Black Both cracked. Patriot both blanks. Could not save either one. I will try the Buffalo Horn again on the Gatsby but not the patriot.Good part neither were sold yet.Here is the Gatsby.I took the patriot apart needed the tubes
 

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tonylumps said:
OK this is the truth. My wife takes about 20 of my pens to work to sell for me every day.She works at the Airport mid shift. First thing this morning she has 2 Buffalo horn pens. A Patriot Fountain and a Gatsby.One gray and one Black Both cracked. Patriot both blanks. Could not save either one. I will try the Buffalo Horn again on the Gatsby but not the patriot.Good part neither were sold yet.Here is the Gatsby.I took the patriot apart needed the tubes
Click to expand...

The main point of this thread is how to prevent WB horn from shrinking and cracking .
So what are you going to do different this time to prevent your WB pens rom cracking
 
I am trying a different epoxy. It has a longer set time i did not buy it for this I just ran out of the stuff I was using.I drilled the blank real slow no heat.after drilling I ran water through the blank.Let it air dry and see what happens.I will not be selling anymore until we find out what to do with them.
 
Tony, you might think about treating it like a "damp blank". After drilling, weigh it on a digital postal scale, and let it sit for a month or so -- then weigh it again. It may take a while to become stable.

There is a pretty healthy literature about bovine horn that is largely applicable except bovine horn is solid only near the tip. Bovine horn has been shaped and used for hundreds of years.
 
horn

tonylumps said:
I am trying a different epoxy. It has a longer set time i did not buy it for this I just ran out of the stuff I was using.I drilled the blank real slow no heat.after drilling I ran water through the blank.Let it air dry and see what happens.I will not be selling anymore until we find out what to do with them.
Click to expand...

Soak in wood hardener
 
Run some thin CA in the hole to seal it before gluing in and yes the use of epoxy will help some. Does any of this stop it only time will tell. Good luck.
 
The last 2 were CA finish.This one will be a polish I am going to try to excel the enveriments Put the pen together without refill.Refrigerate it,Put it on the radiator.I will try it for a couple of weeks and see what happens.i really like the buffalo horn.still have a couple of blanks But no more pens for a while with it.
 
I don't know if the link I provided will work but if you search for " working with buffalo horn knife handles" you can find a plethora of opinions on how to work with it. It seems the common issue is buffalo horn dries out causing cracking. The discussion has various opinions on how to prevent drying out. Not sure a pen owner will want to go through the steps knife owners go through since knives typically take continuous maintenance and pens not so much. Anyway, it's a good read and gives a look at how knife makers try to deal with horn.

How does Buffalo horn hold up?

I should have said, within the provided thread above is another thread that has a good discussion.
 
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MikeL said:
I don't know if the link I provided will work but if you search for " working with buffalo horn knife handles" you can find a plethora of opinions on how to work with it. It seems the common issue is buffalo horn dries out causing cracking. The discussion has various opinions on how to prevent drying out. Not sure a pen owner will want to go through the steps knife owners go through since knives typically take continuous maintenance and pens not so much. Anyway, it's a good read and gives a look at how knife makers try to deal with horn.

How does Buffalo horn hold up?

I should have said, within the provided thread above is another thread that has a good discussion.
Click to expand...
Mike to much Maint.I will try one more time. Turn it down and soak it in thinned BLO and use a good wax finish.No CA. And see what happens
 
Another Horn just cracked .It was the first one I made and I have been keeping an eye on it. It was an Art Deco Really nice pen I have 3 5" blanks left I will store them in wood Hardner for a while.But will not make anymore of them to sell right now
 
Woodturningz resales pennstate. So they all came from pennstate. I'm not sure how their stock is quality wise or if they undergo any type of inspection.

Hands down the best and most preferred method of purchasing natural materials, read ivory, horn, antler, tooth, scale, hide, etc is visual inspection. Sight unseen is bad lost of the time. At least see a photo of what you are buying.
 
There are too many other excellent materials to use than to try to use those that cause problems. Wasted time, $$$, and the frustration of having materials go south once made into a pen is an excellent reason, for me at least, to not use them. I've not had problems with antler cracking but buffalo horn is a different story. Just my thoughts and many will disagree. Just saying.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
 
edstreet said:
Woodturningz resales pennstate. So they all came from pennstate. I'm not sure how their stock is quality wise or if they undergo any type of inspection.

Hands down the best and most preferred method of purchasing natural materials, read ivory, horn, antler, tooth, scale, hide, etc is visual inspection. Sight unseen is bad lost of the time. At least see a photo of what you are buying.
Click to expand...
I did see a Photo But it does not show an Xray of the blanks inside .Think it is just the nature of the material.It is a shame the gray finishes up nice.
 
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its_virgil said:
There are too many other excellent materials to use than to try to use those that cause problems. Wasted time, $$$, and the frustration of having materials go south once made into a pen is an excellent reason, for me at least, to not use them. I've not had problems with antler cracking but buffalo horn is a different story. Just my thoughts and many will disagree. Just saying.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
Click to expand...

Your are right.But the finished product is really nice ,especially the gray.
 
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That is 4 pens I had to redo. I have 4 horn blanks left .Since I already have a Vacuum generator. I went and ordered a small tank and a couple of quarts of stabilizer. I am going to drill a 7MM hole in all of the blanks and stabilize them and see what happens .If that does not work I will trash them.
 
It's been tried before with horrible results by equipment that you are unable to obtain in the hobby level arena. The process will impose other problems as well.
 
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