Thread: tool handles

Originally Posted by IanW

Until man-made plastics took over completely by around mid last century, all sorts of handles & small objects were made from horn, as I'm sure you're aware. Some breeds of cattle sport pretty impressive sets of horns so there was probably a steady supply from slaughterhouses without attacking the wildlife, but buffalo horn was certainly used for some things, both for its size & no doubt for the cachet of having a product from an animal with such a fearsome reputation, though there were plenty of nice, placid, domesticated buffalo who would have (involuntarily) donated horn to the cause.

To add another tangent, ivory & horn are quite different structurally. Ivories (elephant, narwhal & walrus plus sub-fossil mastodont ivory), are essentially over-grown teeth & consist of dentine & enamel, both highly mineralised material laid down in a protein matrix, whereas horn is compressed keratin, the same stuff your skin (& fingernails) are made of - not as hard or as durable as ivory. Antler is very dense bone, similar to, but not quite the same as the stuff teeth are made of.

To complicate matters, some horn is amenable to boiling soften it up and then rolling into solid 'logs.' I've often bought knife scales and pen blanks that, on receipt, turned to be this processed horn rather than the 'natural horn' as advertised.

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

To complicate matters, some horn is amenable to boiling soften it up and then rolling into solid 'logs.' I've often bought knife scales and pen blanks that, on receipt, turned to be this processed horn rather than the 'natural horn' as advertised.

Skew, if I'm not mistaken, all horn can be softened by hot water - note how one's fingernails get soft in the wash-up water.....

The horn you purchased was still "nacheral", it had just had a little post-bovine treatment......

Cheers,

Hi,

If I am not mistaken I have several of those
Chucks in a shed. Some are made of Brass and
some are made of wood. They are from the Lathe
my father had bought. I do not know why he would
have kept some of the chucks and other bits and
pieces. I know you will need pictures but not that easy.
but will try one day. I have often wondered what to
do with these chucks.

Martin.

Although I can't say what the handles were originally intended for, they could still make for some very practical & desirable tools today.

While I don't condone the harvest or use of 'modern' ivory, I think it's a shameful waste to let old pieces like that languish.

(Cor! The brownie points I could earn from my arts 'n crafty missus! )

Originally Posted by IanW

Skew, if I'm not mistaken, all horn can be softened by hot water - note how one's fingernails get soft in the wash-up water.....

The horn you purchased was still "nacheral", it had just had a little post-bovine treatment......

Some horns vary enough in wall thickness that by the time you soften the thicker parts, the thinner parts have become... well... nearly glue. I simply meant that some horns lend themselves to the process, others need quite a bit of trimming and/or scraping to get consistent thickness.

I often want it unprocessed for the surface texture as a form of 'grip,' but it can be hard to tell just what you're getting by online descriptions.

Originally Posted by old workshop

If I am not mistaken I have several of those Chucks in a shed. Some are made of Brass and some are made of wood. They are from the Lathe my father had bought...

...I have often wondered what to do with these chucks.

It would be a shame to have them end up being thrown out. I doubt the museum in Ashburton would have the resources to buy them off you and ship them halfway around the world. Maybe there's somewhere closer that would be keen to have them (the Fred Howe collection in England?). Or maybe just list them on eBay so they get re-united with a Holzapffel lathe.

Cheers, Vann.

I know it would be a shame for them to be thrown out.
I will have to get the Chucks out and try to see what I
can do with them. I am not sure but I think one of them
was made of Box wood. Time will tell.

Martin.