Thread: Stained Horn Scales

Will epoxy pick up the dye? I used JB weld clear.

Not sure about JB weld, never used it.

It doesn't take it as well as horn, itself. I found that a bit of touching up the inside of the scales with black paint, made a darker appearance.




Then the wedge took care of the rest.


I would recommend a heavier amount of dye to be used on the epoxy. I went fairly light, and tried it twice, before settling on using the paint on the inside of the scales.

Can't really screw it up. Just start over again, if ya don't like it. That's how I learned.!

But I'm more than happy to help ya along, though it takes a bit of technique, learning to blend and hide repairs. Honey horn is by far the hardest, because of its transparency.

If their in real bad shape, I'll sand them real good, make repairs with epoxy and powdered lump charcoal, bog oak, or burnt, wooden match sticks. Anything black, to use as a filler for the epoxy. Then dye them in black hair dye.






Getting the shine back, is the use of CA as a clear coat that will polish to a high shine, something epoxy won't do.

Knowing a bit about finishing auto and boat repairs, is a plus for me in this aspect. So it does take some practice to blend repairs so their not easily spotted, or stick out like a sore thumb.

I've been slowly working on this project and almost finished sanding the blade...I hope.

I like the idea of dying the scales. It would be a shame to lose all of the natural colour and transparency. Maybe I'll try the spots or put a streak on them like that photo. Darker on the wedge side to hide the crack. If that fails, can i salvage by re-dying a solid colour?

I tried black hair dye on another set scrap horn scales. I followed the instructions on the box. Seemed to work ok. They are black now.

Is there a type or brand that works best? Would a paint brush work to put the dye on?

Appreciate any tips. Thanks.

If your going to dye the whole scale, just place them in a zip lock bag, and cover with dye. Let soak a couple hours, won't hurt anything.

If your doing spots, use a small paint brush to apply.





If you've done spots and don't like it, yes you can dye over it. But I advise you to sand the scales again to remove the pattern left from the spots. It'll show thru the new dye.

My preferred dye brand.

Finally finished this razor. I attempted to put black spots on the scales, but that didn't go well. Not sure where the idea for the arc came from. Not great, but I'm happy with it.

Really appreciate the feedback. Great tip for the Revlon Colorsilk. I tried another brand and it didn't work nearly as well.

Next step is improving my honing skills with these old wedges. The first shave didn't go very well.