I *thought* I could tell the difference between tortoise and dyed horn...

[Voidmonster]

I got a razor in a batch of other stuff the other day -- a Crown Cutlery Co., 6/8 rattler grind (faux-frameback) in what I thought were imitation tortoise-shell scales.

I've got 5 razors in scales like it, one of which I'm quite certain is actual tortoise.

After looking at this new razor a bit, I'm not so sure of my ability to spot the difference anymore.

Here are 4 of them (the 5th is in pieces, stowed in my box of 'projects').



I had originally assumed all of these were dyed horn.



This one surely is.



Pretty sure this is too.



This 'new' one, I'm not so sure about.



Which leaves me wondering about this one. Notice how the wavy crack at the end conforms to the shape of the dark spot? As though that dark spot were an organic part of the material?

The one that I can be sure of, I can be sure of because it's broken enough that I can see that the spots go 'through' the material to a degree. I haven't taken any of these apart yet, but the last one there -- the one with the silver plate -- it's got delamination of a sort I've never seen with horn, and the grain has a great deal more 'swirl' to it than other pieces of horn scale I've examined.

The thing that got my attention with the Crown Cutlery blade was that the dark spots are a tiny bit raised and have different texture.