All about sheep horn

[Dixieblade57]

That is the purpose of this thread to start a thread dedicated to info about working with sheep horn. I know there are several makers who use quite a bit of sheep horn for knife handles and my hope is that they will contribute there knowleged to this thread. I will contribute what little I know and then pose few questions.

I already know about cutting with band saw or dremmel. I already know it stinks when cut and boiled. I also know the best way to straighten is too boil and go straight to boards set up in vice and tighten as tight as possible to straighten. I also know to leave it clamped till thoroughly dry and it may take more than one time to boil and straighten1

That is about were my knowledge stops and the questions begin.

When I searched for sheep horn, I saw several posts about fresh horns being dried for three or so years!

Is this a concern (drying properly) for a horn say bought of Ebay? They look dried but how do you know?

Is it best to leave alone the horn on Ebay and buy from some place like this?
:http://www.knifemaking.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=sheep+horn

The only thing about that is for a 4 1/2" length to 4 3/4" length you pay between $37.00 and $47.00.


Is the fact that it is flat and ready to go worth the extra cost?


What is the best way to polish up the rough out side of the horn?


Do you actually just sand it down? I have seen it used where the ridges were still showing. If you sand that is going to take that away!

Is there a big concern with splitting when pinning? What is the best fastening method if not pinning, IE corby bolts?

I have a knife that I am working on that is just baegging for a sheep handle and I am trying to get up too spped on the use of it. I am sure I am not the only one with questions and I will probably think of more once these questions have been answered!

 

[Bill Burke]

First let me say that I have made close to five hundred knives using sheep horn So I think that I am qualified to put in my opinion.
If you want to straighten sheep horn the best, fastest and easiest way to do it is to put it in a toaster oven and heat it DRY to about 300 degrees clamp immediately leave it over night and it will stay. Boiled horn takes eight months to a year to dry out enough so it won't move. I tested this by boiling twelve pieces of horn for thirty minutes then clamping them to wooden blocks to straighten them the first scale I unclamped after a week and let it set It started to return to its original shaped after only two days. it twisted back almost to it's original shape over the coarse of my test. I unclamped and cataloged the other piece over the coarse of the next elleven months. the sith piece of horn hardley moved at all the seventh moved back more than the sith but I was still able to grind it straight. the eight and nineth pieces moved more that the sixth but less than the seventh. the ten was less yet and the last one hardley moved at all. I dried these pieces in the attick of my shop in Salmon Idaho where the aveage humidity is about twenty percent. the summer months averaged about 89 degrees with a few days over one hundred degrees in august. the coldest temperature was 19 degrees below zero in january. my test went from march 2004 to february 2005. Fresh horn needs to be cured and aged. Ed Fowler Showed me to leave it out in the weather until all the lanolin/oil from the sheep had weathered away thenwash it good and hang it in a dry place for a minimum of four years. This is what I do. horns off of ebay come in many different stages of drying. only experiance will tell you where in the process they are. if in doubt start from the beginning. you can pin sheep horn with out much worry of cracking it. you are much more likely to burn a ring around the pins sanding and buffing than crack it peening the pins. Corbys bolt also work very well but again it is easy to burn the horn grinding them down. Acra glass and loctite speed bonder are the two best glues I have found for bonding horn to a tang. for the most part the ridges are left unsanded on a Fowler style handle. you canuse a grey scotch brite pad to smooth it up without making it completely smooth. For me it is much easier to buy scales from Alpha knife supply or others like them than to dick around cutting and straightening horn into scales.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

+1 for Bill's advice.

Many years back I called Ed Fowler about this question. He said he had a friend who made ram's horn scales, and gave me his phone number ( got to love the friendly attitude of the guys here). I called him and he spent nearly 1/2 hour telling me his procedures...and a lot of good stories.

The short version was to NEVER boil the horn.
He used a roasting pan filled with fine sand. Put the horn in the sand and place it in the oven for 1 hour at 300F. Remove and clamp between two boards in a vise. Stick back in the hot sand and bake for 1/2 hour, and re-clamp as needed to get it flat. If 300F isn't quite enough, try at 325F.

 

[Dixieblade57]

Bill I knew you had done a lot of sheep horn handles and I s hoping you would chime into this thread. Thank you for letting me know that I was heading in the wrong direction with the boiling thing. I have done this with antler and I ass u me d hat would be the way to do the sheep horn.
I also appreciate your frankness about using stabilized horn from a reputable dealer. I still can't help but want to do some on my own but at least I know it is worth the money for the stabilized horn.

I look at it this way. If I knew what I was talking about I wouldn't be asking questions!


Bill Burke
ABS Master Smith, 2008
"If you want to straighten sheep horn the best, fastest and easiest way to do it is to put it in a toaster oven and heat it DRY to about 300 degrees clamp immediately leave it over night and it will stay."

My next question has to do with stability after drying in the toaster oven. We have a lot of humidity through the summer and some in the winter here in Florida!
Is humidity a problem when using sheep horn after it has been dried as you describe in the toaster?

What is the best way to finish the sheep handle as a final product once it is attached to the knife, (IE buffing, waxing or sealing with a sealer?

I am thinking of using a G10 liner material under the sheep scales. If I epoxy the liner material to sheep horn and the G10 to the knife am I looking at problems or anything that I need to know about using it this way?

Anyone who knows about the use of sheep horn or anyone with questions please jump in here. The more discussion about the subject the better. I think the sheep horn look is awsome and that was the reason for the thread, I want to learn evrything I can before I try my first project with it!

 

[Bill Burke]

After the scales are dry it seems to stat pretty well. The liners are ok I have used them but not normally. On the parts of the horn that I leave natural I rub acraglass into the surface of the horn and then wipe off everything possible with a rag. this leave the small cracks and creavaces sealed but the horn still looks pretty much natural. For maintenace I use sgoe polish, the oldfashioned was type that you rub on with a rag let it set and then polishit off with another rag. I use an old tooth brush and scrub it into the horn let it set for awhile and the polish with a soft cloth.