Jeff Krieger Posted June 4, 2021 Report Share Posted June 4, 2021 Does one work with horn the same way one works with ebony? I have a frog made of horn that I am fitting to a bow and will need to clean it up, polish, etc. Is the approach the same, sanding and polishing, as for ebony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan slobodkin Posted June 6, 2021 Report Share Posted June 6, 2021 I have no experience with this and therefore am bringing it to the top again in hopes of learning something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mik Kyklo Posted June 6, 2021 Report Share Posted June 6, 2021 First you have to know what horn you have and from which animal. Ox, deer, imitation etc. You can polish it nice if you have a rotary tool (dremel like) and attach polishing bit. With light sanding (1500-2000) and some rouge (very fine) you can make it shinny. Avoid oils. If it is imitation decolored shellac will help the result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rothwein Posted June 6, 2021 Report Share Posted June 6, 2021 Deerhorn is tricky, because it's properly "antler." there's a bone-like part with a horn-like... layer? inclusion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan slobodkin Posted June 7, 2021 Report Share Posted June 7, 2021 I am assuming the horn in question is the black or mottled (water buffalo?) horn which is offered as an upgrade frog by some modern makers. Looks nice but I have no experience working with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rue Posted June 7, 2021 Report Share Posted June 7, 2021 Horn and antler are very different in composition. Antlers are bone, and grow and are shed annually. Horn is an outside keratin layer. Horns on animals are permanent (they have a bone core). Horn is malleable and can be heated and shaped, and laminated. Same with tortoisehell. Whalebone too (...not sure about lamination though). I have a bow with a horn frog. Pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Yacey Posted June 7, 2021 Report Share Posted June 7, 2021 Antler is much like working with bone. I've used moose horn for some things, and it machines, files and polishes well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzupe Posted June 7, 2021 Report Share Posted June 7, 2021 I concur with Bill, treat it as you would bone or ivory, shape it with files and sandpaper as needed, polish with fine grits , padded micromesh pads work good for final polish . wear a mask, don't breath the dust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Krieger Posted June 7, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2021 Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan slobodkin Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 Jeff, When you are done please post a report on what you did and how it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Krieger Posted June 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 I have been holding off until I felt confident to proceed but will post before and after images. Thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Krieger Posted June 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2021 Here is a before photo. You may be able to see filing about 1-2 mm from the top. I am planning to use micro mesh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Krieger Posted June 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 I decided to start micro meshing the button because the silver rings were slightly higher than the horn enough that it catches the hand. Not sure the image is worth posting. The horn part came out a little cloudy. Maybe it now needs a sealant such as a wax??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Krieger Posted June 20, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2021 This is the fitted frog made of horn after micromesh. The micromesh stripped off the high gloss finish and it now looks more like ebony. It did remove the file marks. I tried a wax polish as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Burgess Posted June 20, 2021 Report Share Posted June 20, 2021 On 6/15/2021 at 8:39 AM, Jeff Krieger said: I decided to start micro meshing the button because the silver rings were slightly higher than the horn enough that it catches the hand. Not sure the image is worth posting. The horn part came out a little cloudy. Maybe it now needs a sealant such as a wax??? I'd try applying tung oil, giving some time to penetrate any porosity, then wiping it off, and giving what has penetrated enough time to dry thoroughly. Then polishing again if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Krieger Posted June 20, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2021 Would the wax application need to be scraped off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoGo Posted June 20, 2021 Report Share Posted June 20, 2021 When I made buffalo horn picks I polished them just like plastic, I used progressively finer sandpapers (wet sanding, up to 2000-3000 grit) and finished with car polish (grey 3M paste I used to polish up some fine scratches on my car, it contains no wax, just fine abrasive, or I would suggest using Novus or similar lacquer polish). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan slobodkin Posted June 22, 2021 Report Share Posted June 22, 2021 On 6/20/2021 at 1:39 PM, David Burgess said: I'd try applying tung oil, giving some time to penetrate any porosity, then wiping it off, and giving what has penetrated enough time to dry thoroughly. Then polishing again if needed. David, What would you use for the final polishing? As I said top of the page I have never worked with horn but have seen more than a few bows which have horn frogs which are quite transparent and very shiny. I am thinking Jeff needs to go to finer abrasives to remove the cloudiness and allow light to penetrate the surface. Jeff, What level of abrasive are you finishing with? Are you going down in order without skipping grits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Krieger Posted June 22, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2021 I used the full set of micro mesh beginning with 1500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan slobodkin Posted June 23, 2021 Report Share Posted June 23, 2021 7 hours ago, Jeff Krieger said: I used the full set of micro mesh beginning with 1500. And going how fine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Krieger Posted June 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2021 Please see earlier post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan slobodkin Posted June 23, 2021 Report Share Posted June 23, 2021 5 hours ago, Jeff Krieger said: Please see earlier post. Sorry Jeff I don’t know what the “full set” means I am still using the micro mesh which I bought in the 1980s and the finest I have is 6000. I do use various tripolis and rouges which I suspect are finer grit than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Krieger Posted June 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2021 A typical micro mesh kit begins at 1500 and ends at 12,000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan slobodkin Posted June 24, 2021 Report Share Posted June 24, 2021 Wow! That should definitely make it as smooth as it can get Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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