Thread: solid horn cylinders for brushes

Hey fellow brushmakers! I haven't technically made a brush yet, but I've been learning a lot on my lathe recently and plan on ordering some knots soon. I like the idea of using solid horn, but have come up empty handed trying to track it down. Well I saw that the ebay seller mygann had some listed on amazon but was out of stock. I messaged them to see about getting my name on the list for when they come back into stock. The message arrived tonight!! It's very nice looking honey/brown mixed, 4 in long, available in 35mm, 32mm, 30mm, and 27mm. I ordered 5x in 35mm.

Awesome! Real horn? got a link?

The horn is real. The shipment just showed up yesterday, so I'm not sure if they've been uploaded. Just search for mygann and ask her. She has a website and an ebay store, so it's not that hard.

I have horn rods from Horncraft saved in my favorites on fleabay awaiting the time I want to make a full brush
they have 12mm to 30mm usually 70mm & 100mm long all colours
might be an option also ?

horn-craft | eBay

Originally Posted by Substance

I have horn rods from Horncraft saved in my favorites on fleabay awaiting the time I want to make a full brush
they have 12mm to 30mm usually 70mm & 100mm long all colours
might be an option also ?

horn-craft | eBay

those look nice too. I wanted the 35mm from mygann though because i can put bigger knots in the handle.

Thanks for the link Kyle. I might get some in the future.

Ahhh! they don't ship to Canada....

My experience with lathes is extremely limited, but I have done a fair amount of work with horn. I would think its fibrous composition, combined with its propensity to split along those fibers would present some unique challenges to shaping it on a lathe.

Originally Posted by CZMark

My experience with lathes is extremely limited, but I have done a fair amount of work with horn. I would think its fibrous composition, combined with its propensity to split along those fibers would present some unique challenges to shaping it on a lathe.

You are very much correct. In my experience turning it on the lathe, which is limited, it wants to tear out like no other material I've turned and I've turned many different materials. You really, and I stress, really need to have a light touch and sharp tools when turning horn. It's one of those materials that if your not careful, will start getting smaller, and smaller from bad tear out. It's very brittle along its grain. Here is some horn I've turned.

Beautiful work.