Sheep horn handle, any good?

Q

Quy4n8

Joined
Nov 27, 2002
Messages
659
Does sheep horn make a good handle material? In particular, does it give a good grip for a knife without a guard, but not create hot spots in extended use? I like the appearance and I suspect it is tough enough; considering what sheep do in life. Any other negative aspects of horn? Thanks for your thoughts and experiences.

Richard
 
Sheep or ram horn makes a great handle material. Ed Fowler uses it exclusively. I have it on an EDC small fixed blade and have had no problems other then when I dropped it on a hard floor and chipped a piece off. Luckily I found the piece and crazy glued it back. I used it to field dress a deer last year and it held up fine getting bloody and wet. If it's been stabilized it's even more durable.
Scott
 
I determined years ago when I saw Ed Fowler's user knife, the sheephorn having been well worn for many years of hard use that it was likely the best example I'd ever seen of a knife aging beautifully with grace, while still retaining all of its strength. He used to repeatedly drop it on the concrete floor at shows to show people that it would suffer no damage.

Some sheephorn resembles the look of fossilized walrus ivory or smooth stag. There are individual qualities of each horn, same as other choice materials.
David
 
To me Ed Fowler is the wizard of knife making when it comes to practical use knives. He has lived the life that requires their use daily. Horn is very good as handle material if it is done properly. I'm sure he started using it because it was readily available, it worked great, and to top it off it was cheap!

If you want to see a great knife book here is a link to his. It is more a series of articles that were published over the years in a knife magazine and covers all types of knife topics, not just how to make a knife.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cu...33658-0834414?_encoding=UTF8&n=283155&s=books
 
I have to agree with all of you: horn is a very nice handle material. I wish more makers used it.
 
Razorback - Knives said:
Sheep or ram horn makes a great handle material. Ed Fowler uses it exclusively. I have it on an EDC small fixed bladeScott
Click to expand...

Yeah, I heard a rumor that Scott does a right nice job with horn handles.

RZedc2.jpg


:D:thumbup:
 
I also recommend having sheep horn stabilized. It has been flattened using heat and moisture and it will always want to go back to its original curled form if it's not stabilized.

Ken McFall at K&G has two stabilizing processes, one for wood that fills and one for things like sheep horn that is thinner and will not fill in all those nice valleys in the bark.

Good luck,
 
Scott, I've got a gun & knife show next weekend in my home town, so should get to show off this EDC to lots of my buddies!
 
Its less stable than a micarta or most woods, but it can definitely be functional and look great. It generally won't be symmetrical if that matters to you though.
 
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