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Discussion Link
I have started to make some boxes using horn for the body and turned
wood for the base and lid. Here's how I turn a horn.
1. I start by turning a tapered plug, sized to fit the horn segment.
2.
Here's the equipment needed to straighten the horn. I heat lard
in a "Fry Daddy" to 350 degrees to soften the horn. Boiling water
will soften the horn but it doesn't get hot enough to erase it's
"memory". Lard works best. The horn stays in the lard until
it can be flexed with (gloved) fingers.
 .
3.
When the horn is heated and softened I push it onto the plug (hard) as
far as it will go. I have also pre-cut the horn segment that I
want to use and drive it onto the plug with a light hammer and wood
block. The idea is to get the horn to form a straight taper and be
round inside.
4. It's easy to see where the plug ends.
5.
After the horn cools I cut it just above the top of the plug. If I
try to cut it higher the horn will be seriously out of round on the
inside. Very difficult to fit a lid. The edge can be rounded
with a scraper but the rim will not be concentric with the outside
surface.
6. I put the plug back on the lathe using the centers that were made when the plug was turned. I square the two ends.
7. I start shaping the outside surface using a roughing gouge. This tool seems to work best.
8.
As I removed material from this piece of horn it became transparent.
That's not always what happens. As the layers of horn are peeled
off the colors can change. It can be pure white, transparent or
mottled.
9.
When I finished shaping the horn was almost completely
transparent. I finished the outside surface with sandpaper and
ScotchBrite (high speed) and polished it with DuPont #7 Polishing
Compound.
10. Here's the finished box. The base and lid are walnut.
I added a surprise inside - a dollar coin.
Here's some other examples of horn and wood boxes I made.
I get good mileage from one horn.
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