Thread: Black Horn Scales- Totally glossy or still show some grain?

So I'm wondering if black horn scales should be sanded and polished to a glossy finish (like say celluloid) or because it is a natural material will always show some grain (say like wood)? And also because it is a natural product will the distinction of the grain vary from scales to scales?

I would say it's up to you (or the end user, if it's not for you). Keep experimenting until you find something you like (though you may want to experiment on a scrap piece, not material you have already made into scales). You could also look through the galleries to see what others have come up with as finished products.

I'm firmly in the glossy camp. I'm really not sure that you can retain original grain - by the time you (or the original maker) have sanded to shape, what you are seeing is sanding marks. Even if you get slabs of new horn, there will be saw marks reather than any original grain.

Shiny blade = shiny scales
Dull aged blade = not as shiny scales

Just an observation

The more "Streaks" or Color variations that are in the slab of Horn the harder it will be to get the perfect Plastic like surface

For example the Feathered horn scales



Are near impossible to get a perfect Plastic finish on because of the White streaks being there

The Honey horn is pretty easy and the nearly all Black can get really perfect, so perfect in fact I had one customer actually complain that he had ordered Horn and I had sent him Plastic

It is in the end a Natural material and you can only do with it what Mother Nature gives you, that is part of the allure

For polishing Horn I like to stay away from heat and buffing as much as possible and have found that the Newer 3m Tri-M-Ite works very well with water

http://www.amazon.com/3M-WET-DRY-TRI.../dp/B0095I79RA