Thread: Bending horn (back again...)

Looking good. They are definetly straighter. I'm interested to see how the neatsfoot oil is going to work.

Ray

OK, this is where I am on this...
The horn scales have been clamped flat for the past week. On the advice of Joe Chandler, I have ordered some neatsfoot, and am going to try and dilute out the olive oil, and replace it with neatsfoot (since who has ever heard of olive oil horn?!). Let's keep keratin where it belongs!

SO, I have de-clamped the scales and they are soaking in neatsfoot in a small ziplock bag (see picture attached). I'll let this soak over night, switch the scales to fresh neatsfoot two more times tomorrow, wipe down the scales, and perhaps clamp them flat for a few more days....just to remind them what they should look like

I'm thinking that should do it! Then it'll be time to repin them to the restored blade. OH, I knew I was forgetting something. I need to finish the restoration of the blade.

Saturday = woodcraft. Pick up some truoil, and pick up some sand paper (600 and 800 grit).

C utz

AND done.

SO, the scales are finished. Literally. Kaput.
And when I say all that I mean, ruined.

I did it!
I admit, I went a little too far.
I did NOT listen to instinct.
I gave into curiousity without thought....

I put them, with neatsfoot, in the microwave to heat them.
It went something like this: hhmmmmmmm(microwave hum)mmm..crackle, crackle, POP!, fizz... And that's when I made it to the microwave to stop it.

All in all it took 20 seconds to destroy them. They poped/split outward on both scales at the same spot. Ruined.

HOWEVER, with that said... The neats foot worked great! If the scales had been boiled in hot water (NOT microwaved) and then soaked in the neats foot and then clamped flat I think it would have worked just as well, if not better than the olive oil. SO, this is something I'll pursue in the future when I come across scales that need to be re-bent.

One thing the neats foot did do was filled/oiled(?) the cracks. Notice the before and after images. The middle cracking in the to disappeared when the neats foot was added. The cracks are there but they are filled/oiled.

I do have to note though, that while the neatsfoot did make these less dry, the cracks WERE still present, albeit not as dry and visible. So the possablity for these scales to eventually crack over time was high. I'm wondering if horn scales this old should/could be stabilized like wood?

SO, what are your thoughts? I learned a lot. I also learned that I can still be a bonehead....however, that is often when I remember my mistakes most!

I'm going to be treating some OLD scales with neatsfoot, but they will remained attached to the blade, and there will be no heating JUST rubbing on some coats....

NOW, time to start making a new set of scales....from scratch this time.

C utz

With all that water in the scales, when you put them into the microwave it popcorned them.

It's too bad, a hair dryer on hi works fine as a heat gun.