Horn-Spoons-art

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Horn-Spoons-art - 1/5/99

"Making Horn Spoons" by Mistress Gunnora Hallakarva. Directions for making spoons out of cow horn. How to process the horn.

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Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 00:21:16 -0500

From: Gunnora Hallakarva <gunnora at bga.com>

To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu

Subject: Horn Working

I was asked a question about making horn spoons, so I thought I'd pass it

along to the list as well.

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You asked about working cowhorn for spoon moulding.

OK. Let me quote the real documentation first, then I'll tell you about my

personal experience with horn working.

Arthur MacGregor. Bone, Antler, Ivory & Horn: the Technology of Skeletal

Materials Since the Roman Period. Totowa: Barnes & Noble. 1985. ISBN

0-389-20531-1 (out of print)

This is the bible of bone, horn and antler crafts. I have a photocopy of

the whole book. If you get just totally into doing this type of work, let

me know and I'll be glad to make you a copy if you'll reimburse the 250

pages worth of copying.

p. 66

Horn

As already stressed, the composition of horn is quite distinct from that

of antler and hence the methods employed in working it can be very

different. This is particularly true in the case of softening and

moulding, which have for centuries been essential processes in the horner's

repertoire.

Rendering horn soft and malleable is achieved simply by the application of

heat, though delicate control is needed to avoid damaging the material.

(No chemical change is therefore involved here, though Zurowski (1974)

mentions an alternative method of softening in which horn may be boiled in

a solution of wood ash.) Following some weeks of soaking in a tub or pit,

the keratinous horn sheaths were separated from the bony cores and set to

boil in a cauldron. After one to one-and-a-half hours' boiling, the horn

was taken out and held over a fire with a pair of tongs or with a special

toothed warming tool (Andres 1925) to evaporate the excess water and

further soften it by gentle and even application of heat; it was then ready

for "breaking" or opening. According to the account of a York horner

working in the first quarter of the present century (recorded in Wenham

1964), one of two methods of cutting would normally be used, depending on

the desired shape of the resulting horn plate: after the solid tip had been

removed, the cut could be made either in corkscrew fashion, to produce an

elongated rectangle when opened out with the aid of a pair of tongs, or

else a straight cut could be made from the tip to the base, giving a

squarish plate (Figure 41 - see

http://www.realtime.com/~gunnora/horn_cut.gif). Andres stresses that the

cut is normally made along the inside of the curve. The whole of the above

process had to be carried out quickly and efficiently, while maintaining

the appropriate temperature: too much heat would scortch the horn and not

enough would result in it readopting its former curvature.

After some preliminary trimming and removal of blemishes with the aid of a

scraping knife or spokeshave, the plates of horn could be returned to the

cauldron for resoftening, after which they were further pressed

(p. 67)

between heated iron plates, the smooth surface of which had been smeared

with grease. Final smoothing and trimming was then all that was necessary

before the plates were ready for manufacture into items such as combs,

boxes, etc."

P. 67 goes on to describe selecting light colored horns, soaking them extra

long, then delaminating them into very thin sheets for window panes and

lantern "glass". Another technique discussed is "welding" two pieces of

horn together applying higher heat and pressure until the horn began to

plasticize and almost "run" and thus stick two pieces together (I have

never got this to work).

p. 67 "Andres gives a recipe for enhancing the 'elasticity' (touchness) of

horn, involving a solution of three parts nitric acid, fifteen parts white

wine, two parts vinegar and two parts rain or river water. After treatment

in this way, it is said that horn combs could withstand being trodden on

without breaking."

COMMENTARY

I have usually soaked my horn, then cut strips out of it rather than trying

to flatten a whole pane. The flattening method results in more efficient

use of material, but I don't often go to the trouble.

If I flatten a pane, I get out my gas griddle and attach it to the propane

tank. I use PAM nonstick spray - the griddle is too hot if the grease is

burning and smoking. I then take an iron (the kind with the Teflon bottom)

set it on the "wool" setting+steam and use it to apply pressure from the

top. I hope to eventually find an old cast iron iron at a flea market and

use that -- I'd heat it directly on the griddle, or maybe on another

griddle at higher heat.

I usually "toast" the horn (the dry heat part of the process) over a

propane torch which has been set in a clamp so it cannot be knocked over.

You have to watch - it scorches easy. Your first clue is the awful smell

of burning hair.

As soon as I get it soft enough to flex, I take two metal spoons and I

clamp the horn between the two spoons with a series of small C-clamps as

toght as I can get the clamps. Then I let it cool overnight. The next day

I can trim and polish.

You can do a spoon without the dry heat step. I boil for 3 hours, then

immediately clamp.

If you do not flatten the horn before you start, cut a strip out of the

horn using a coping saw or Dremel cutting wheel. I try and make the bowl

fall in the thinnest part of the horn (i.e., near the mouth) and the handle

in the thick part (towards the tip). It is important that the junction

between the bowl and the handle be very sturdy as that is where it will

break. It is easy to sand down the bowl to an appropriate thickness, so

you can make the whole spoon out of fairly thick horn. I cut it, rough

shape it (leaving 1/4" or more all around where I think the spoon will

actually be), and thin the bowl, then boil, and clamp.

As a note, when boiling I usually set a Pyrex measuring cup or other

heat-resistant item on top of the horn to keep it under water. I put a

veggie steamer into the pan whenb I do this to keep the horn off the bottom

of the pan as well, or if I have them pyrex glass pellets (sold at lab

supplies).

To polish, sand using progressively finer grits, then 000 steel wool,

finish with jeweller's rouge. I sometimes use tripoli on a buffing wheel

rather than sand by hand, and finish with rouge. If needed, I apply a

final buffing with some beeswax.

If desired, you can coat the spon with salad bowl varnish - available at

wood craft shops or your local hardwood supplier may be able to tell you

where to order.

Gunnora Hallakarva

Herskerinde