I am making my first horn scales

[rambus007]

SEEKING ADVICE PLEASE! Please read below.

I have some polished steer horn as seen below. They are really nice so I"m going to use them for my first horn scales. The gentleman I bought these from suggested that I boil them to soften them down first, then press them to flatten. Before I do that I wanted to see if anyone had any input.

I was planning on cutting them in half first before boiling. Once they are soft which takes about an hour as I understand I can press them but I'm not sure what to use to press them. Any ideas?

Also the horns are thicker on one end and thin on the other. The thin side is very thin (1/32"). I think that I can cut the scales about 1" short of this thin area so that scales won't be too weak. However, I think I can also use this thinness to my advantage for the wedge of my scales.

I'm hoping some of the seasoned restorers will chime in and offer some valuable advice here. Thank you in advance for your input.

 

[Aloxite]

I'm just tagging alone to learn something from this thread. I'd like to make some horn scales myself.

I wonder how soft the horn is after boiling? If it's fairly soft you could put them between two boards and set a bucket of water on them for weight if you don't own a bench vise. If it needs more weight you could park a wheel of your car on the board - horn - board sandwich.

 

[rambus007]

That's a good idea! I never thought about a car tire as a make shift vice. I do have a small jeweler's vice with rubber sides. I also have boxes of kitty litter that were purchased from Costco. They weigh about 50 lbs each so that will work as well.

 

[rambus007]

FYI I found some information on SRP.

http://www.straightrazorplace.com/forums/workshop/50927-flattening-horn-blanks-masecraft.html

Some of the members there suggest baking them to soften rather than boiling (20 mins at 220 degrees while clamped. This is suggested for warped blanks. However I don't know if it applies to horn that hasn't been cut into blanks. Anyone care to comment of the pros and cons of baking vs boiling?

 

[rambus007]

Quoted from Brando on SRP:

"to manipulate horn use steam or boil it only for short while then press it or bake it like Mainman said. I also found a website, Type in Google " working with horn" and you will find it. Theres a pretty good tutorial on working with horn too."

 

[rambus007]

http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/horn/hornhome.html