Bending horn?

[Galemys]

Has anyone got experience with bending horn?

I've got a cow horn's and want to use the last few inches (the dense tip) to try and make a small horn fire piston. The curved tip of the cowhorn would be more usable to me if it would be straight.

As horn is a thermoplastic material I know that one can apply heat to make it pliable and then force the material in the wanted configuration. Cooking in water is my first option but for how long? Animal glue is made in the same manner and I don't want my horn tip to turn into glue…

Any information on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[nenook]

hello , once youve scraped the insides out boil it and its just a matter of keep testing it until you can pinch it , then it will be like putty but have a jug of hot water to hand as it cools off quite quick just like plastic, ie it will feel hot to touch but doesent bend, hope this helps

nenook

 

[Galemys]

Thank´s Nenook, I knew someone here at the forum would know

If all goes well I will post a picture of the finished fire piston (I´m keeping my fingers crossed because the usable piece of the horn is a bit smaller than I had hoped)

Cheers,

Tom

 

[ex-member Raikey]

i straightened a curve in some black buffalo horn dry,...with a heat gun, a bench and 2 g-clamps,....

is cows horn more like rams horn than buffalo?....

i only ever worked this little bit for a knife scale,...

 

[Galemys]

Hmm heat gun...I don't think my wife's hair blower will qualify as one so I'm gonna try the cooking in water first. Thank's for your reply though!

Cheers,

Tom

 

[Indoorsout]

Just a word of warning... Cowhorn can delaminate when boiled, that's how they get thin sheets for spoons and lantern shields

 

[Galemys]

Thank's for the warning!

Cheers,

Tom

 

[Galemys]

Just a word of warning... Cowhorn can delaminate when boiled, that's how they get thin sheets for spoons and lantern shields

I have sawn the surplus of the horn off at the point where the marrow(?) ended. It looks as if some of the layers in the remaining tip are delaminating already, and that is without applying any heat
So it probably will be too porous for making a fire piston but I'm gonna try and make a very small non-functional one out of it anyway, just to get used to working with this material.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[Indoorsout]

You do get gaps sometimes between the layers in the horn, so you might just be seeing those. I've never tried straightening it myself though so I'm not 100%

 

[ex-member Raikey]

it takes Apoxy resin quite well too,...

or even F/glass resin...

 

[g4ghb]

would it absorb thin superglue? I would think that would probably seal it quite well and give you a nice solid finish when dried.....

 

[Galemys]

Thank´s again for those useful tips people, that´s enough ideas to keep me off the street for a while

I´ve got some 6 cm of the tip left to play with (and a smaller piece of another horn tip that I can use for the knob), it will be a tiny fire piston when it´s finished...It may be working if the horn is airtight enough though, I have read about a historical South East Asian fire piston with a bore depth of only 3.7 centimetres!

It ´ll take some days before I have the opportunity to use a column drill to make the hole for the piston. As I can´t drill too deep I´ll have to make the bore diameter smaller too. I´ll try the bending first as it will allow me too drill straighter.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[RJames]

When I do any stick dressing [which is every spare minute I have] I always soak my horn in either a clear varnish or epoxy to help with sealing. I do this post bending. I tend to find making yourself a simple bending jig when forming leg crooks or neck crooks for the top of a stick helps, so I would think making yourself a vice type straightening jig to set the horn into whilst it is cooling would be a good policy

 

[silverfoxxx]

rjames,your inbox is full,can you pm me please..ian

 

[Colin.W]

The silicon oven gloves are great for working with hot things I "borrowed" the one from the kitchen (aparently I now owe her a new one as it's now no good after bending smelly bits of wood)