Goat horns for scales

Thinking about making some scales from Goat horns. We are currently killing goats for the next few weeks so will grab some while I can.
asume I will need to dry these out.
a couple of questions.
what tools do I need to work with horn-guessing a dremmel?
how long do I need to wait before I can work with it given the horn will be fresh?
This will be my first attempt at making scales. Do you think I am starting with something too hard? I will get a few sets to play with.

I think horn is awesome to work with. I get mine from online folks. I have no idea how to use fresh horn. Any woodworking tools work. I have a scroll saw, belt sander and lots of sandpaper. That is all that is needed to shape the horn.

as these will be free and I am in no hurry, I may hang a few up to dry in the garage for a few months.

Maybe spin up a few goatskin strops while you're at it?

Should be not baa-ad.

Could you bake the horn on low heat ( < 100C ) to speed up the drying? I sometimes get deer antler and the season is here for finding them. Might be a good choice, too.

Also, I believe - especially for wild horns, it is advisable to use a face mask... that might already be obvious to everyone so disregard if I'm being pedantic.

Yeah be careful with respect to "curing" them. Bone will shrink and warp as it dries - especially if cut into scale size bits.

"PREPARATIONIn working with bone in particular, it is best to let the bone dry for at least
one year before working it. Although this is not critical for all projects, you
must follow this rule for anything that might be affected by shrinkage
(thumb-rings, hinges, critical fittings, etc.)."

Page 5 should be very helpful: http://www.florilegium.org/files/CRAFTS/Working-Horn-pamphlet.pdf

Seraphim said:

Maybe spin up a few goatskin strops while you're at it?

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all our hides are sold to the tannery, guess I could buy a hide or 2 and do the work myself
we kill 1.2 million sheep per year and at a guess a 3000 goats. also approx 400,000 cattle.

Earcutter said:

Yeah be careful with respect to "curing" them. Bone will shrink and warp as it dries - especially if cut into scale size bits.

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I was thinking of leaving them as a full set untill dry.
The artical is full of what I need to know. Thanks David

ladykate said:

Could you bake the horn on low heat ( < 100C ) to speed up the drying? I sometimes get deer antler and the season is here for finding them. Might be a good choice, too.

Also, I believe - especially for wild horns, it is advisable to use a face mask... that might already be obvious to everyone so disregard if I'm being pedantic.

Click to expand...

not sure about baking them, goat has that funky smell, SWMBO would kill me, I can just here the moaning now for hanging a few up in the garage.
I thought about deer antler but think they are too round and not wide enough. have you made some out of deer antler?

cleanshaved said:

I thought about deer antler but think they are too round and not wide enough. have you made some out of deer antler?

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I have not made razor scales from deer antler but I have made knife handles. The deer around here are big enough - the tips (or near the tips) of the antlers would probably be all you would need - if you took the base, you would have to do some serious trimming.

ladykate said:

I have not made razor scales from deer antler but I have made knife handles. The deer around here are big enough - the tips (or near the tips) of the antlers would probably be all you would need - if you took the base, you would have to do some serious trimming.

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I have a small set that was hidding in the shed. only a 6 pointer red deer. we get them larger around 14 points on red by most guy treat the big boys as trophies.
may be able to get my hands on some larger than what I have on hand. have have friend with a few larger but not perfect shape racks he may be willing to part with one.
here is a photo of the small one on hand. do you think I could use this one?

re: do I think you could use that one?

Sure. It looks like you have lots of territory to work with. The problem will be getting it trimmed down satisfactorily. But that problem is also the fun.