Thread: Stained Horn Scales

Lots of staining on these scales that don’t look natural to me. Any advice how to minimize this or get rid of this?

Stains are possibly from prolonged exposure to water? Try giving them a good rubbing with sandpaper. It won't do the scales any harm. Hope this helps.

I've come across quite a few that the old dye is wearing off.

As said, give um a go with some 220, ya might be surprised.



If its rust you may have to cut it out, carefully. Then fill with CA or epoxy, depending on how big or deep of an area thats being repaired.

I've been able to use hydrogen peroxide to get grimy stains out but if it's rust that probably won't do it. I have never tried something like CLR because I was afraid it would damage the horn although I have thought about trying it if I find some that could be sacrificial for the sake of the experiment.
If they are delaminating and rust is getting into the cracks it can be nearly impossible to manually remove without cutting it out like outback said.

Did some sanding and definitely made progress. Most was on the surface on the inside of the scales. Some of the grime was in cracks and goes deeper. I used 220 and stopped often to check. I have to reshape that end now as they don’t match anymore. Should get more out then. Thanks for the replies.

Nice work. Just be sure to get the insides flat. Its more important on the wedge side, but pivot side matters too.

Once you have them the way ya want, make sure to soak them in Neatsfoot oil (Pure oil) for at least a week, or longer.

I got Neatsfoot oil from a cowboy boot store. Put the scales and oil in a skinny glass jar with fishing line through the scales and a washer hanging out of the jar. Here is a picture right out of the oil.



One of the scales had a break through the spacer end pin and someone repaired it by putting another pin through. My 1st attempt to color the epoxy went way too dark. I redid the epoxy in the extra pin hole, but am scared to redo the break so i may live with the dark line. Beginner mistake. Picture below shows the too dark epoxy on that 2nd pin hole and the blade part way thought sanding.



Here's the original razor for comparison. Plan is to finish the blade, figure out a spacer, and put it all together.

Don't worry about the crack. Hide it some, by putting the spots back on it.

Just finished one the other day.






You can still see it, but not as easy.

While your razor is apart, another option you might consider is re-colouring the entire scales in hair dye. Outback gave me the idea and helpful advice and I couldn't be happier with the result. These scales were coloured with black but lots of options with different browns etc.