Thread: Bending horn (back again...)

OK. A little while back I asked how you guys recommend bending horn. I got replies that basically involved heat gently, then clamp flat till cool. Since I do not have a heat gun (as cheap as they might be, I never got around to buying one), so I opted for the hot water trick. After having sanded the scales clean (but not to the finished polish), I put them in a pot of water, brought the water to a boil, removed them.

I then put them together and clamped them between 2 metal rulers. I'm thinking that I might need to redo this and clamp them individually to the metal surface. It 'somewhat' corrected the bend, but it is still slightly there.

Also, since then I have slathered superglue on the edges and cracks for reinforcement.

My question is, do you think that boiling the scales with dried superglue would be a problem? Should I sand down the glue first?

Thanks!
C utz

P.S. YES, this is ANOTHER razor I am trying to restore. I have been bitten by the restoration bug!!

Actually, What I am most concerned with, is whether the horn will eventually bend back over time?

C utz

I wish I could help but as I recently started with wood and haven't done any horn work the only help I can offer is a bump

Thanks Firestart, I appreciate the offer

WELL, I decided to wing it.....
I sanded down the superglue. What was interesting is that while sanding you can 'see' where the glue is versus the horn. The glue remains grey while sanding, so you can tell when you have sanded down to the horn.

This horn is VERY old and dry. It looks its age, and I'm guessing that is about 100-150 years old. There are more threatening cracks and split's than I know what to do. Every fiber looks like a potential split to happen. I'm thinking that even if I DO get this horn straight, the tension of pinning it tight is just tempting one of these cracks to make a break for it!

SO, after sanding this thing up to 400grit, I rubbed down the scales with some high end virgin olive oil and put them in a pot of water with about 1 tablespoon of the same olive oil. Brought the water up to a boil and let the scales boil for about 10min. The one scale (lesser bent of the two) is clamped to a metal ruler. The other is under a 35lb dumbbell between a metal ruler and a flat piece of wood.

We'll see if anything comes of it. I'd hate to use a 'new' set of scales, since I love the color/pattern that was hidden under the rough, chipping, old outer surface...

C utz

Sorry, Here is the picture of the scales, 'before' the olive oil bath....

I'm not sure if the olive oil is a bad thing or not, but with how dry these are, I figured it's natural, and 'what the hell!'...........

Chris, try pure neatsfoot oil. It's made by boiling horns and hooves, and will replace the natural oils in the horn (and leather) that have dried out or oxidized over time. I think this will work tons better than olive oil. In the future, if you have some dried out horn scales, neatsfoot oil works wonders on them.

Joe

Ah!

Thanks Joe! Do you think woodcraft will have this? I need to swing by and get some truoil What are the chances that the horn will bend back?

Do I just rub on the neatsfoot, soak it, boil it with the horn??

Thanks!
C utz

Originally Posted by C utz

Ah!

Thanks Joe! Do you think woodcraft will have this? I need to swing by and get some truoil What are the chances that the horn will bend back?

Do I just rub on the neatsfoot, soak it, boil it with the horn??

Thanks!
C utz

I'm not sure whether woodcraft would have it. I wouldn't think so, but any tack shop or hardware store should. Make sure you get the pure neatsfoot oil, instead of the neatsfoot compound, which is petroleum based. I'd put it on after boiling. As far as the horn bending back, I wish I could tell you, but I honestly don't know. I made a set for Coully out of blonde horn, and so far, so good, but over time I don't know. I don't have a lot of experience working with raw horn. Just saying the neatsfoot oil has worked very well on some of the older horn scales I have.

Hm, I'm just talking here, but if the scales were very dry, a sudden hydration would probably weaken the structure... my experience comes from cigars, so you can laugh all you want

it's too late now, but I would start with oil (or Joe's stuff) and apply it for a while - e.g. several days. Then I would still avoid boiling, but maybe I am just paranoid... What's wrong with borrowing a heat gun from Michaels when they have a kid's Saturday activity hour or something? It will cost (if not free) $2, afair. Or I might go for a steaming over boiling water... seems safer

Cheers
Ivo

EDIT: forgot to say you can most likely go to Sunglasshut or an eyglasses store, they have the machine to heat and bend frames - and will do this either cheap or free, I think

Why I'll be a monky's uncle!

It appears that it worked! See the pictures below (sorry they are the best I can do with my scanner). It's not 'great' but still pretty damn good (I think). The top image is before I took the scales apart. The bottom image are the respective scales on the same sides, but after I boiled them in olive oil. The top scale (the one that was bent most = upwards) was kept under a 35lb dumbbell between a metal ruler and wood. The bottom scale was clamped flat to a metal ruler using large paper clamps and small vise clamps.

I HAVE ordered some pure neatsfoot (it's being shipped since it would be faster than me waiting till the weekend). Till then, I'm keeping the scales clamped between the metal rulers. When the neats foot comes I'll probably soak the scales in a plastic back for a fw days, periodically changing to fresh neatsfoot to dilute out the olive oil (I guess I'm more of a purist and would rather have horn 'stuff' in the horn), and then clamp it flat (if still needed). Hopefully by then I'll have the blade cleaned up....

Any thoughts??

C utz