Thread: Is there any way to straighten buffalo horn scales?

I recently purchased an ebay special Fredrick Reynolds with what I think is buffalo horn scales. For the price I paid I expected some faults. One I have found is the the scales seem to be warped to one side. The blade can close without the edge touching the scales, but near the spine touches the scales.
This is really just a cosmetic fault, but if it could be fixed it would look a lot better.
Does anyone know of any way that buffalo horn scales can be straightened without unpinning the razor?
And if it is necessary, is there any way to straighten the scales once they are unpinned?
Any help anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

Here is an SRP Wiki tutorial that may help you out.

I just received a pair like those myself (I am a fan of the black horn scales)

I look forward to your results!

Another method is to apply some Neatsfoot oil to the scales and then wedge them back to their proper shape and let them sit till they dry.

I was once told about trying to use a hairdryer and heating them up, but for me this didn't work. It smelled horrible and didn't do any straightening.

Originally Posted by mbhodges

I was once told about trying to use a hairdryer and heating them up, but for me this didn't work. It smelled horrible and didn't do any straightening.

The hair dryer works good for plastic type scales.

dry heat is surely the way to go.

I cannot say whether a hairdryer will get hot enough, but within just a few minutes my electric heat gun will get horn, wood very plastic

That said you want to go slow, do not scorch.

you have to bend it; figure your own method to manipulate them into the position you want

cool them in cold water and that's it

except for redoing- always takes several bends to make anything straight

I dont know. I did some scale jobs for someone that provided several sets of horn scales for the blades. Two or three sets were very warped. I tried a lot of things but what ended up working for me was to rubber band the scales together so they were flat against each other. I then put them in some water in a pan on the stove. Then put the burner on low and let the water slowly heat up to nearly a boil. Then I took the scales out of the water and let them cool down to room temperature slowly. Every set trued up. Give them a wipe with oil to make sure they dont dry out and then I pinned them all.

When you bend wood, you use moist heat, a steam box, which is where I got the idea from.