what kind of horn?

[bscofield]

What type of horn is it that I keep seeing on so many pipes now-a-days?

Example:



or

[KurtHuhn]

Could be anything. No, seriously, it could be.

I've used stabilized water buffalo and some kudu that I found for cheap. There's also blesbok, sheep/ram, stag, deer, etc. Look on ebay and you can find almost anything.

I don't know what that top one is. I'm tempted to say stag, but it doesn't look creamy enough. It almost looks like fossilized bone. The second one looks a little like gazelle, or perhaps some other antelope.

[bscofield]

Could be anything. No, seriously, it could be.

I've used stabilized water buffalo and some kudu that I found for cheap. There's also blesbok, sheep/ram, stag, deer, etc. Look on ebay and you can find almost anything.

I don't know what that top one is. I'm tempted to say stag, but it doesn't look creamy enough. It almost looks like fossilized bone. The second one looks a little like gazelle, or perhaps some other antelope.

You can tell this by the color?

Don't think me a jerk for splitting hairs... but there's a difference between horns and antlers, right? I thought that a horn was hollow (to a degree) and an antler solid. That's where my quandry was coming from... how they were getting enough solid mass to create a ferrule. Get what I mean?

But the one's that r generally creamy looking with sort of dark wavy lines going through them are (or could be) stag?

Where does one find such things anyhow?

[KurtHuhn]

You can tell this by the color?

Well, color and striation patterns. I'm no expert though, so chances are I'm wrong.

Don't think me a jerk for splitting hairs... but there's a difference between horns and antlers, right? I thought that a horn was hollow (to a degree) and an antler solid. That's where my quandry was coming from... how they were getting enough solid mass to create a ferrule. Get what I mean?

"Horn" tends to be a rather generic term used to describe the hard things that sprout from the heads of animals - at least in pipe making circles. I don't know where the misnomers started, but they appear to be in widespread use.

But the one's that r generally creamy looking with sort of dark wavy lines going through them are (or could be) stag?

From what I understand, yes. Deer antler, looks very similar, though without as much contrast.

Where does one find such things anyhow?

You can get deer antler and water buffalo horn at:
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com
Look in the pen blanks section.

Other material can be found on eBay if you look around - at least that's where I've been getting it.

[bscofield]

That's strange... my deer antler that I've worked with has always been solid off-white with no color mixtures... I've also found it to be very poreous (sp?) if you make a piece that is sanded down too close to the center... what's up with that?

[NvilleDave]

I've had the exact same experience with deer antler--kinda bland looking to me. I had some water buffalo stuff a while back--it was mainly jet black. I'm like you Ben, I want to find something like on Eltang's that has those nice color variations. Maybe the deer antler has those colors but I'm not using the right part or something.

Dave

PS--Ben I'll try to get some pictures of my belt sander to you this week.

[KurtHuhn]

Deer antler, like you find in North America, is generally rather blah. However, it's possible to find some antlers with decent color contrast. From what I've been told, the stuff you find on most Danish pipes is Red Stag - a relative of the deer species in North America. I have never seen any Red Stag in person, so I have absolutely *zero* knowledge of the stuff.

The porous center in larger cross-sections of the antler is the "marrow". To get a solid cross-section, you need to use the pieces with a smaller diameter, like the tines (or points).

[bscofield]

Deer antler, like you find in North America, is generally rather blah. However, it's possible to find some antlers with decent color contrast. From what I've been told, the stuff you find on most Danish pipes is Red Stag - a relative of the deer species in North America. I have never seen any Red Stag in person, so I have absolutely *zero* knowledge of the stuff.

The porous center in larger cross-sections of the antler is the "marrow". To get a solid cross-section, you need to use the pieces with a smaller diameter, like the tines (or points).

Ahh... so the key is to stay off the beaten path...

[bluesmk]

Hi guy's,
I wanted to throw in this morning, had some errands.
Both pipes look like water buffalo variations. About three years ago, I found a button company in India that still makes buttons of horn for high end cloths. After a two month courtship we finally understood each other, and I bought appx.36 pieces 7/8" in diameter x 4" long. Cost $250.00 min. order. I got asst. black, red and white. The white is what I was hunting for, turns out it varies greatly, but I wouldn't order the black again. The horn on that stem I have posted in the gallery is from that buy.
Just in case your interested.
HORN INTERNATIONAL
AG HORN
info-sales@agbuttonworld.com
contact person:G.MD.RAFIQ

[Olivier]

My 2 cents worth...... I'd say Indian Waterbuffalo. African Buffalohorn is much darker.

But then again, as Kurt said: Could be anything.

[kkendall]

My guess (and that is what it is)

The top one - cow horn. Love Geiger completed a pipe recently with horn on the stem. I asked what kind he used...cow.

http://www.geigerpipes.com/images/fatdu ... nerweb.jpg

The second one - possibly ox horn. I have a piece I got from mingdong (China). I haven't used it yet. Look at the pictures where it's used on some pipes. Expensive stuff ($10 / piece), but really looks good.

http://www.pipesdo.com/product.asp?id=541

[JHowell]

Agreed, cow horn (or bull). Very, very, VERY difficult to find high quality pieces. Most has internal cracks and delaminations that makes it unusable. The Indian water buffalo horn I've gotten has been too monochromatic and too dark to be really interesting. Mingdong has some interesting looking stuff, but I was put off when I started to place an order and was quoted a higher price than I expected, given what was listed on his website and what others had posted here.

[Skip]

I have wondered the same thing. I have tried deer and like you I found it blah. One thing I did to improve the look was to turn a cylinder to slide over the shank. I used black stain and stained the inside as well as the out side. It gave it a real neat look kind of like salt and pepper. One tip, do not use any color other than black. They will create the worst looking wierd colors.

A lot of other types of horn are black and look just like black acrylic so what is the point?

Several years ago I asked Bjarne Nielson about what kind his company used and he said cow horn from Brazil. He sent me a few pieces and it was good altough some were just solid black.
Erik Nording said he used the same cow horn.

Tom Richard Merrit sent me a handfull of the Brazilian cow horn and it was awesome. I made one pipe so far and I think it was the best looking horn I ever saw. The only problem with it is that they use the tip end so as to not be hollow and you are limited with diameter.

Strangly, I do not know where to buy the stuff as every one has just given me the horn gratis. I guess I will contact Tom when I get low and see if he can hook me up with his source. At the rate that I knock out pipes that will be a while.

Skip