View Full Version : buffalo horn question?
i scratched a bit of buffalo horn i am using for a knife handle.. i needed to get rid of it but it is quite deep.. i have a spare bit so i put a similar scratch in it, and have been trying to get rid of it i have rubbed it down with wet and dry 1500 grt and it is nice and smooth but i cant get the shine back.. i dont really have enything like a buffer to use.. anyone got any tips?
Underhay
08-11-04, 07:37 PM
I've no experience with buffalo horn, but as you have a practice piece, it might be worth using beeswax or some polish and buffing with a cloth.
Hope this is of help.
Duncan
i'll give that a try.. thanks! :biggthump
Or you could try linseed oil.
is horn absorbant like wood? i cant imagin that this stuff would stay on, i have oil so i will give that a try!
Colin KC
08-11-04, 08:39 PM
If you have no buffing wheel, get it down to the finest grit you can & THEN use Brasso & LOTS of elbow grease, trust me:D
Tvividr
09-11-04, 12:21 AM
If you have no buffing wheel, get it down to the finest grit you can & THEN use Brasso & LOTS of elbow grease, trust me:D
What Colin said, or you could also use one of the polishing pastes / "compound blocks" (word ?) specially made for horn, bone, wood etc. Colins point on LOTS of elbow grease is important. Rub untill you think it's enough and then rub ten times that again :D
keith_beef
09-11-04, 12:26 AM
I found that 00 and 000 steel wool worked better than abrasive papers when I was working cow's horn.
Followed up with liberal application of glycerine.
KKK
ZDP-189
09-11-04, 02:10 AM
Buffer!
i dont really have enything like a buffer to use..
is that what is used to prepare them in the first place?
if you want your place to smell like dog s**t try cutting a few pieces of it up then hitting it with a sander....
Ask Mike Stewart on this one TomTom he may be of help on this as well as he had to make knives out of this stuff in the past.
stonehard
09-11-04, 08:43 AM
buffalo horn is strange in that it will shine even without a good polish. I used some on a kith and found that I got a good shine with just plain old olive oil.
the trouble with BH is that it remains soft and is prone to marking so a textured finish ie linished is easier to keep looking nice.
Tvividr
09-11-04, 09:21 AM
if you want your place to smell like dog s**t try cutting a few pieces of it up then hitting it with a sander...
:D it'll smell even worse than that :yikes: - and the smell will stick to your clothes, your hair etc...anything that gets in contact with the dust.
buffalo horn is strange in that it will shine even without a good polish
maybe for you :noggin:
and yeh i noticed it smell like :censored: , sticks to the inside of your nose worst of all!
Dave Barker
10-11-04, 08:53 AM
maybe for you :noggin:
and yeh i noticed it smell like :censored: , sticks to the inside of your nose worst of all!
Think the worst bit is for us poor people that have to sneak around and make knives.
Wood you can sand quietly and when swmbo comes home... she knows nothing....
BUT!!
use horn, ntler, bone or anything else and well...... She walks in the door and BOOM smells it...
You can't even blame that smell on something you have eaten guys... I tried and got the response tat maybe i should go see the doctor because i ws obviously rotting from the inside out!
As for the shine, bolied linseed put on with a cloth and then buffed by hand when dry does the job for me...
keith_beef
10-11-04, 11:38 AM
Think the worst bit is for us poor people that have to sneak around and make knives.
Wood you can sand quietly and when swmbo comes home... she knows nothing....
BUT!!
use horn, ntler, bone or anything else and well...... She walks in the door and BOOM smells it...
You can't even blame that smell on something you have eaten guys... I tried and got the response tat maybe i should go see the doctor because i ws obviously rotting from the inside out!
As for the shine, bolied linseed put on with a cloth and then buffed by hand when dry does the job for me...
I don't find it smells that bad. Maybe I'm just sanding at a slower speed, so the heat doesn't build up.
On the occasions I've heated up a tang to press it through a slice of antler, or I've used a Dremel to sand antler, bone or horn, the smell has been strong, but not unbearably so. It smelled similar to burning hair...
So, what you can do, is buy a plucked chicken, or a joint of pork with some bristles still on it, and tell the wife that you singed off the remaining feathers/bristles before cooking.
Or tell her that the reason you've got no hairs on your forearm, is that you singed them off accidentally when you got too near the gas flame.
KKK.
Dave Barker
10-11-04, 11:44 AM
snip......................
So, what you can do, is buy a plucked chicken, or a joint of pork with some bristles still on it, and tell the wife that you singed off the remaining feathers/bristles before cooking.
Or tell her that the reason you've got no hairs on your forearm, is that you singed them off accidentally when you got too near the gas flame.
KKK.
:lmao: :biggthump :35:
Or try T-cut used for polishing scratches off car paintwork. You could also buy a rubber attachment for a drill together with a lambswool polishing bonnet. They're fairly cheap and will save lots of elbow grease....
Hi,
I use buffalo horn on walking sticks too and have more experience in that field (just getting into knife making). To get rid of a scratch, don't go overboard on power and use a fine grit paper to work the scratch out. If it's really deep, a Dremel fine sanding drum will take some of the effort out; then use sandpaper down to about 240 grit, then Autosol (also good on antler as long as it is not on the spongy part - it is down right impossible to get it out of the pores) and finally T-cut as Falcon says. Don't push to hard on the final shine and you can get a really good finish.
Stuart Ackerman
13-12-04, 08:37 PM
No one uses respirators or face masks in your part of the world?
Whenever grinding or sanding wood or horn, folks, please use some protection.
Buffalo horn is composed of keraton and collagen, so imagine little particles of your own hair playing dodgem cars in your lungs! if you can dig it out of your nostrils, than you are getting it in your lungs. Micarta and Pakkawood, the same, if not more so.
I hate face masks etc, but I know I won't be getting cancer and whatever from my creative interests.
Stu
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