Thick Horn - How to reduce - Help

I am making my first attempt at scale making. Ordered some black horn from Maggards and it's thicker than I expected. Thickest point is 3/16". I need to plane it down and am having a hard time coming up with how to do it. I have power and hand tools at my disposal. Plus lots of time and patience.

Thanks

Fortunately horn sands fairly easy. you can put down a piece of 80 or 100 grit on a really flat surface, put a wood block on one side of the horn slab with some double sided tape, and sand away! =)

I thin mine with a table belt sander

Doc226 said:

I thin mine with a table belt sander

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Likewise.

What "power and hand tools" do you actually have? Are there any that do sanding ? And are you trying to thin down an entire slab prior to cutting out the scales? If that's what you're planning to do you don't need to do that. It's a lot of work with no benefit .

I have a RO 5" round sander and all kinds of hand sanding stuff. I have some horn blanks I need to plane flat on the inside and then sand to proper thickness. I plan on cutting out the scales before I sand to size.

I sent Brad Maggard an email about this issue with some of the horn blanks a while ago (it's only the ones listed as 1/8" thick water buffalo that measure ~0.187" - the ones that are just listed as 1/8" horn mike out to 0.125" or thereabouts like you'd expect), I wonder if they ever fixed the listing.

Incidentally, did you do anything to flatten yours yet? Mine came with a pretty noticeable warp.

Mine are slightly warped. I haven't done anything about it. Was going to just plane them flat.

You guys have to remember this is a natural product . You're not buying Formica in perfectly flat and uniform thicknesses. This stuff regardless who you get it from can be all over the place as far as thickness and flatness goes. Even after you cut out the scales and start sanding chances are good they can mive and warp some more . It certainly isn't Brad's fault . It's the nature of the material and that's what you deal with. If you want flat and warp free scales then you make them that way. It's craftsmanship. If you don't want to learn how to do it then buy sheets of plastic .

Is is it easy ? Depends. But millions have been made over the past century or so using tools and materials you don't have available today.

Stock I use can run from just under 1/8 to right around 1/4" . Doesn't matter one bit. That's what you use.

I'm sure it can vary, but when pieces listed as one type are within two thousandths of 1/8" and pieces listed as another type are within one thousandth of 3/16" I assume that it's simply the case that the former type has a nominal thickness of 1/8" and the latter type has a nominal thickness of 3/16", and that the variance of whatever process they use to shape them into rectangles (I know pressing was used in the past, not sure what they do now) is a couple thousandths. I certainly could be wrong!

You're agonizing over ,,,,,

One Thousandth of an inch?

Are you expecting natural stock accurate enough to make Swiss watch parts out of right from a supplier?
I can only say Wow. Have fun.

And I'll also say that if Brad is supplying stock that falls within 1-2 Thousandths inch then that is some outstanding quality control for horn!

I really don't care that it's a bit over. Better over than under. Just wanting suggestions on how to reduce.

If the stock is thick enough I rip it into two pieces, if not I rough shape the scales, use double sided tape and stick them to each other, get the final shape on them, drill the holes and then thin out on the belt sander.

Do I need to flatten the inside so that the two halves mate properly?

Doc226 said:

If the stock is thick enough I rip it into two pieces, if not I rough shape the scales, use double sided tape and stick them to each other, get the final shape on them, drill the holes and then thin out on the belt sander.

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He he indicated the stock he's using is 3/16 th. That isn't thick enough to rip. He also said he has a RO sander not a belt sander so that's not doable either. It'll have to be done by hand. He also didn't say he has a drill press . So most of what has been suggested may not be helpful.

Simple jigs could be made to thickness the scales once roughed out using the tools he indicated he does have.
Or just wing it and hand sand them .
He didn't indicate if he has a buffer but if taken to a high enough grit they could get polished by hand.

mycarver said:

He he indicated the stock he's using is 3/16 th. That isn't thick enough to rip. He also said he has a RO sander not a belt sander so that's not doable either. It'll have to be done by hand. He also didn't say he has a drill press . So most of what has been suggested may not be helpful.

Simple jigs could be made to thickness the scales once roughed out using the tools he indicated he does have.
Or just wing it and hand sand them .
He didn't indicate if he has a buffer but if taken to a high enough grit they could get polished by hand.

Click to expand...

Ahh, you are correct. I missed the part he only had a RO sander.




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Not having a selection of power tools handy one way to get stock to size is possibly this. Use the thin double sided tape and secure the scale ( black piece in my photo) to a flat surface. Then on either side place the two sticks that are the thickness you want the scale to be. I think paint stirring sticks might be close. Then just wrap some sand paper around a block that bridges the two sticks and leaves just the scale to be sanded. Start fairly coarse with the grit and as you get closer increase the grit . This will get them to a uniform thickness and
you can do the final sanding freehand .
With care the RO could be used for quick rough in and if the two side sticks aren't fastened down they'll just slide out of the way when you get to the thickness desired .

Or or you could reverse this process . Tape a sheet of sandpaper to the flat surface and tape the scale to the board while still using two sticks on each side of the paper. Keep making passes until the board glide across the two sticks.
Bingo.
Bear in mind that this won't correct the warped scales as you thought it might. That's another topic and procedure .

Not sure if warped is the right description. Not perfectly flat but less than 1/16 deflection.

I prefer the stock to be oversize when I get it, actually. With horn, you KNOW you are going to have to beat it into submission.

When cutting horn scales out of a slab, always mirror the scales. Some warping is almost inevitable, after shaping. You want them to warp both toward or away from each other (toward each other can actually be a good thing) but not both to the left or both to the right. I use a regular black and decker dragster style belt sander for a lot of my razor work, including thinning horn scales. The fine work is done on sandpaper glued to glass, of course, with final finishing in-hand with loose sandpaper.

I boil warped horn scales and force them straight while they are soft and pliable, and hold them in position as they cool. This can take several attempts. If the warp is not extreme, I just cut out the scales and let them rest for a few weeks, then sand them flat and true. I think that helps to give more stable scales that won't warp or re-warp so much in the future.

Horn makes beautiful scales if you thin it down enough to let a little light through.

Having a belt sander around is always helpful... Hand sanding will take forever... U can do it but good luck... Buying a cheap 80 dollar belt sander from harbour freight is worth it imho I've used it for many things besides straight razors and its paid for itself many times over