Thread: Hot Pressed Horn Repair?

Originally, the horn (when rendered soft by boiling) was put into a cast iron mould that both shaped and impressed a pattern (if required) into the horn. For just one pair of scales a three piece mould was used: top and bottom plate and shaper plate, the top and bottom having lugs to enable the mould to be tightly bolted together.

The whole mould was heated to a high temp., and heavily greased with tallow. The mould was then bolted down tight, so any keratin that flowed was contained and the inherent layers compressed. A number of these forms were stacked, and often covered over to retain the heat. Steaming was not used in this particular branch of the horn trade, nor in the allied branch that flattened and split horn into sheets used to glaze oil-lamps (lant-horn = mod. lantern) or glaze small window openings.

Regards,
Neil