The Desert Bighorn

Since I live in the deserts of the southwest and this thing has BIG horn scales, the name Desert Bighorn just seemed to fit.

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I think it turned out pretty good for my very first time trying to restore an old razor. The blade centers and believe it or not it's pretty well balanced for its size. I wanted to leave a little character on the blade so I didn't mirror polish it. I wanted something a little more rustic but nice. I think I accomplished that goal.

The image below is what I started out with.

Love the horn,scales are mighty thick tho.

The scales sure are thick!
Nice texture on them.

I was so close to buying a set of that same material, and I regret not following through. For a first set, looks great. Next time try to thin the material more. I've gone through a dozen or so sets, and I always make them thinner each time, but find when I'm done, I should have went thinner. Looks good.

I think that's a good first attempt and you chose a really difficult piece of horn to start with. One of the problems is that the grain runs pretty deep at the wedge end, therefore you can't take off too uch from the inside of the scales. That;s when you have to decide on the balancing act of loosing some of the texture off the outside.

I think the scales are thick enough for you to have taken some more off the inside but then shaped the outsides as well.

When I made some scales from antler, I had the same problem - do I give up the texture on the outside so that the overall thickness looks right?

Suticat, you went for a beautiful material for scales.
For anyone who has not seen this material here are a couple of quick looks on knives:Attachment 218486
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Each slab is only 3/16 thick, only 1/16 larger then the standard 1/8 used. The original set was 1/4 inch thick. I saw on here where someone made a quick jig for using a hand sander. So I found these two pieces of metal and used them as my guide. I sanded them as thick as these which was 3/16. I angled them in a V shape so the horn could slide down and provide me with a back stop to help wedge them in while I was sanding. This gave me enough material on the back side to give it some support under the growth lines.

I was afraid to go to thin out fear of them snapping on me in the future.

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Originally Posted by Chevhead

The scales sure are thick!
Nice texture on them.

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Thanks, that is what I was going for both on the thickness and texture.

Nice but they are thick. I know nothing about making scales, so maybe they had to be thick.

In the early 1960s I almost bought a Bob Loveless fighting knife with bighorn scales. A beautiful thing that is worth a king's ransom by now. :banghead:

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Originally Posted by UKRob

One of the problems is that the grain runs pretty deep at the wedge end, therefore you can't take off too uch from the inside of the scales.

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On the side that has the deepest growth lines, I glued the wedge to that side for additional support. Its not glued to the other side so if I have to unpin it I can take it completely apart.

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Any further sanding would have had to be done on the textured side and thats what I wanted to keep.

Here's what I meant about sometimes having to lose some grain. This is antler so it doesn't run as deep as the horn you used.


http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6b6ba77e.jpg

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Nice but they are thick. I know nothing about making scales, so maybe they had to be thick.

In the early 1960s I almost bought a Bob Loveless fighting knife with bighorn scales. A beautiful thing that is worth a king's ransom by now. :banghead:

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Ugh, in '91 I ordered a Bob Loveless drop point with mammoth ivory scales. The cost was just over $500.00...I waited 6 months. The knife came and the next day I contacted him to return it. Why, two reasons: first I didn't like the way it fit into my hand. Second, I was stupid. Like you say, Bob isn't making them anymore and he remains one of the masters of the craft.

Love those scales!!

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Originally Posted by UKRob

Here's what I meant about sometimes having to lose some grain. This is antler so it doesn't run as deep as the horn you used.


http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6b6ba77e.jpg

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Yea I understood what you were getting at. They are beautiful scales but just not the look I was after. I have several knives like that and they are pretty. I had the same debate with Mycarver when I had my first razor made with Merino Rams horn. He was kind enough to educate me on the process. I learned a lot just listening to him.

Is the complete razor balanced when fully opened? Is it easy to maneuver up and down the strop? Does it feel comfortable in all open shaving positions?
If yes then you could probably leave it as is, but if no then you'd probably want to take it back apart and thin them out from the inside.

So far yes to all. It is well balanced and not blade heavy or scale heavy. I shaved with it last night and it maneuvered quite well. But then again I have large meat hooks for hands.

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