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water buffalo horn

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duke3192:
Have horn, need some guidance on how to cut it to get the most out it.

mikekeswick:
It's the outer curve you need. Glue the horn to a piece of ply so that this outer strip is as square as possible to the board. More than likely you will just get one strip.

RBLusthaus:
and what tools would you use to work the horn down to strips suitable for a bows belly?  Belt sander, rasp, surform?

Russ

james parker:
any and all of the tools mentioned will work,, you can also use a very small hatchet  and/or small hand daze to rough out the horns. then switch to rasp/ and heavy scraper
if you using power tools,as mike said.. hot glue the horn down to a PC of 1/4 " plywood, square the horn as good as possible, make your first cut, just skimming the surface of the horn, but make a good continues first cut,, then make a cut for the strip,, if the horns are thick enough you may get lucky , to get a second cut,, it wont be as long as the first strip, but can still be used  for another bow.. DONT use the fence it wont work... take your time and use a new or sharp blade .  James

RBLusthaus:
Last nite I began working the horn and I found, like you said, that all of those tools will work.  I found the best non tailed tool was the heavy saw rasp -  but even still, it will take quite some time to work the horn to where it needs to be using only these hand tools.  I would be too chicken to use an axe and I don't have a small adz.  I did put it up against the belt sander, and that did work, but the smell was too bad for me to continue. 

Your idea of using the band saw makes sense.  I could tape a paper template to the outside of the horn to use as a 90 degree guide or just set up the ply board like Mike says, or both.  I have also seen a thread here where a guy (maybe Beadman) worked the horn down on a drill press with a grinding bit to a uniform thickness, then flattened it with heat and pressure.  It would seem with this method, you can get a wider strip than with the band saw, due to the spreading sides becoming part of the finished strip.   Of course, this method excludes the possibility of getting a second strip from that piece of horn.

So, I ask you - - which method would you suggest I take a stab at?    Since I am working in the dark (cant find Adams book in English for less than $150), I dont really know what size (width and thickness, I mean) strip I should be aiming for.  I just assumed I should get the largest (width) strips I can manage, then make the core to match the strips.  In this vein, I was leaning towards the drill press method due to the larger width strip theory.  The band saw approach seems much easier, though, and with less steps.  Any advice would be welcomed.  Thanks.

Russ

 

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