Thread: New??? Tip for for strengthening horn scales

I just made a nice set of scales from ox horn for a W&B Full Wedge French Point. After I was done shaping and sanding, I assembled the razor using mini- screws and nuts. What I noticed was that the scales had too much flex in them for such a solid blade.

This got me thinking, if horn is made from keratin, the same stuff our nails are made of, could I use some women's nail hardener to help 'stabilize' them. I have used CA for wood, but was feeling a bit lazy. After a quick trip to a local nail salon, I purchased a $5 bottle of nail hardener. I applied a very thin coat to the inside of the scales( didn't want to ruin the exterior of the scales if this didn't work). The scales absorbed the hardener with no noticeable change to the finish of the scales. I waited an hour and did the same. After it dried, I polished up the inside of the scales with 2000 grit. In 2 minutes, they looked the way they had before my experiment.

The result, the scales feel noticeably stiffer and there is no noticeable difference to the finish. Not bad for 2 costs, a few minutes of sanding and $5.

Sounds like a great tip! There are a few guys here making very thin horn scales that may benefit from this (unless they have an alternative of course).
Cheers,

Eric.

The vintage horn scales I've worked on were not all that thin but flex is an integral part of how they work.
Sounds a good solution tho. Especially if restoration resulted in the scales being considerably thinned.

I am making a set now from black horn, and there is very little or no flex in them, haven't quite got them down to the correct thickness yet but I know there wont be a great deal of flex in them when I'm finally finished.

Jamie.

Maybe we better define "flex"

When the razor pivots thru its full movement the scales will be felt to to bow in & out slightly due to the taper in the tang & the wedge.
If they bend in half when you try to strop , yep that's too much

The nail hardener will soak into the surface pores but no further and any hardening you perceive will be temporary. You really only have two choices. First is to stabilize the material using a product that will saturate all the pores and remain permanent. This usually involves a vacuum chamber to get the best results. But lacking that device, you can use something like Minwax Wood Hardener with multiple coats per the instructions on the label to get a much deeper penetration. There are of course other products available to apply but the end result is that they have to penetrate deeply in to the pores to be effective. This is what your nail hardener does not do. The other alternative is to use a liner to strengthen the horn but still allow the flexibility onimarus55 referred to.

I hope your method works, but I seriously have doubts it will.

Randy