Thread: How to polish Buffalo horn into high gloss finish?

I have few pieces of buffalo horn and decide to make set of scales but unfortunatelly I never try to polish out buffalo horn (black one) so I am interested which way to polish it to high gloss finish?
I think about sandpaper up to 2000 but not 100% sure is that right way.
Thx for info.

If you check out the wiki, there's a series of videos that show a full restoration from start to finish. If I'm not mistaken, he uses black horn for the scales. He shows you all his steps to take it to a high gloss. Hope this helped.

micromesh progression to `12k, if you do not have that use sand paper.
If you use sand paper, go as high as possible then hand polish with some polishing compound. If you have a buffer, buff the scales after the sand paper.

Funny you post this...I have several slabs on the way for a few razors & have never worked with it...

So far the most dependable way I have found is using the sandpaper wet, from 400-800-1500-2400-4000-8000-12000... (1500-12k is Micromesh)
The following with a wax coating and hand buffing...
I have moved away from using buffing wheels even though they are faster and easier the results are just better by hand...

I just finished these. Wet sanded up to 2K then buffed on 4 compounds up to chrome ox. Only took a half hour.

I don't polish horns so I don't know But these guys can help . They are a great bunch of people .


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+1 on the micromesh, that stuff is brilliant. It works great on scales and on blades and leaves a really great finish. Then you can just hit the polished item with some MAAS (for a blade) or other polish for the scales to bring up the final finished surface.

Originally Posted by Stubear

+1 on the micromesh, that stuff is brilliant. It works great on scales and on blades and leaves a really great finish. Then you can just hit the polished item with some MAAS (for a blade) or other polish for the scales to bring up the final finished surface.

The majpr problem with buffing is a tendency to round the edges or make little saucer-shaped depressions around holes. When I made folding knife scales, it was really important to prevent rounding where they had to contact metal with no visible space. So I fixed them together with their flat surfaces together. You can use tiny nuts and bolts, or a couiple of tiny dabs of glue, since folding knife scales will be up against metal forever, But for razor scales you could use double-sided tape, or any glue you can be sure of removing entirely. Any kind of pins in the holes will prevent saucering.

Of course razor scales don't need sharp edges on their inner surfaces. The problem with just relying on a buff to produce slight rounding, is that it may be uneven in a substance with directional grain.

That really is one nice looking razor. I have a thing for nice Greaves razors. Will try that procedure on the horn scales that I have ready for my George Brittain razor. :-)