On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 21:15:14 +0100, Andy Dingley
wrote:

Anyone use buffalo horn ?

More weirdness with the buffalo horn.

Sawed just a couple of square inches of the stuff on the bandsaw.
Then sawed some timber. Opened the bandsaw's lower door it was full
of sawdust - clearly the dust extract wasn't working any more.

Some cleaning and I found the problem - a "dust buffalo" of white
fibrous swarf, big and tough enough to block a 4" dust collector hose!

It's the weirdest stuff - it's like the stuff that comes out of
chainsaw boots if you accidentally cut into them - deliberately
fibrous and capable of blocking a saw.
--
Smert' spamionam

Good thing you asked. A friend has asked me to make a bow using
Buffulo horn. He thought it was from a buffulo.
Is it a kind of wood?

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 21:15:14 +0100, Andy Dingley
wrote:

Anyone use buffalo horn ?

More weirdness with the buffalo horn.

Sawed just a couple of square inches of the stuff on the bandsaw.
Then sawed some timber. Opened the bandsaw's lower door it was full
of sawdust - clearly the dust extract wasn't working any more.

Some cleaning and I found the problem - a "dust buffalo" of white
fibrous swarf, big and tough enough to block a 4" dust collector hose!

It's the weirdest stuff - it's like the stuff that comes out of
chainsaw boots if you accidentally cut into them - deliberately
fibrous and capable of blocking a saw.
--
Smert' spamionam

"ddinc" wrote
Good thing you asked. A friend has asked me to make a bow using
Buffulo horn. He thought it was from a buffulo.
Is it a kind of wood?

It's generally from an Asian water buffalo; a carabao.
'Buffalo Horn' is from an American Bison, and is expensive and hard to get.
Carabao horn can be a couple of feet long- you can take plates and strips
from it that are quite large.
Bison horn is much shorter, very curved, smaller solid areas.

Chas

Buffalo horn comes from the buffalo. It cuts more like a plastic than a
wood. It's pure protein. Most closely related to your fingernails in
terms of everyday experience (or your hair).

bob g.

ddinc wrote:

Good thing you asked. A friend has asked me to make a bow using
Buffulo horn. He thought it was from a buffulo.
Is it a kind of wood?

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 21:15:14 +0100, Andy Dingley
wrote:


Anyone use buffalo horn ?

More weirdness with the buffalo horn.

Sawed just a couple of square inches of the stuff on the bandsaw.
Then sawed some timber. Opened the bandsaw's lower door it was full
of sawdust - clearly the dust extract wasn't working any more.

Some cleaning and I found the problem - a "dust buffalo" of white
fibrous swarf, big and tough enough to block a 4" dust collector hose!

It's the weirdest stuff - it's like the stuff that comes out of
chainsaw boots if you accidentally cut into them - deliberately
fibrous and capable of blocking a saw.
--
Smert' spamionam

On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 19:24:31 -0400, "ddinc" wrote:

Good thing you asked. A friend has asked me to make a bow using
Buffulo horn.

_Really_ advanced bowmaking, if you do it right - it's a laminated
bow.

He thought it was from a buffulo.

AFAIK, this is from European water buffalo, kept for milk production
to make mozarella cheese. I think these are local Somerset buffalo (I
eat their cheese), many are Italian.


You could use Gruffalo horn instead - although Gruffalo are harder to
catch.

So where do you buy any buffalo horn for knife handles, bow, or
guitar picks???

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 19:24:31 -0400, "ddinc" wrote:

Good thing you asked. A friend has asked me to make a bow using
Buffulo horn.

_Really_ advanced bowmaking, if you do it right - it's a laminated
bow.

He thought it was from a buffulo.

AFAIK, this is from European water buffalo, kept for milk production
to make mozarella cheese. I think these are local Somerset buffalo (I
eat their cheese), many are Italian.


You could use Gruffalo horn instead - although Gruffalo are harder to
catch.

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 23:31:44 -0400, "zuldare"
wrote:

So where do you buy any buffalo horn for knife handles, bow, or
guitar picks???

I don't know where you are, so it's hard to make recommendations. Mine
came from a bowyer and fletcher at a medieval re-enactment event ("ren
faire" in the USA). I believe that bow tips and arrow nocks use it,
as it's harder than wood.

Pretty cheap to buy - a buffalo horn is about half the price of a
hollow cow horn.

--
Smert' spamionam

Andy Dingley wrote in message . ..
On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 19:24:31 -0400, "ddinc" wrote:

Good thing you asked. A friend has asked me to make a bow using
Buffulo horn.

_Really_ advanced bowmaking, if you do it right - it's a laminated
bow.

He thought it was from a buffulo.

AFAIK, this is from European water buffalo, kept for milk production
to make mozarella cheese. I think these are local Somerset buffalo (I
eat their cheese), many are Italian.


The buffalo are Italian? Do they moo with a Neapolitan accent?


J. Del Col

On 25 Oct 2004 05:55:12 -0700, (J. Del Col)
wrote:

Andy Dingley wrote in message . ..
On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 19:24:31 -0400, "ddinc" wrote:

Good thing you asked. A friend has asked me to make a bow using
Buffulo horn.

_Really_ advanced bowmaking, if you do it right - it's a laminated
bow.

He thought it was from a buffulo.

AFAIK, this is from European water buffalo, kept for milk production
to make mozarella cheese. I think these are local Somerset buffalo (I
eat their cheese), many are Italian.


The buffalo are Italian? Do they moo with a Neapolitan accent?

J. Del Col

dunno.. but if you **** them off, you might "sleep wid da fishes"..

zuldare wrote:
So where do you buy any buffalo horn for knife handles, bow, or
guitar picks???

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 19:24:31 -0400, "ddinc" wrote:


Good thing you asked. A friend has asked me to make a bow using
Buffulo horn.

_Really_ advanced bowmaking, if you do it right - it's a laminated
bow.


He thought it was from a buffulo.

AFAIK, this is from European water buffalo, kept for milk production
to make mozarella cheese. I think these are local Somerset buffalo (I
eat their cheese), many are Italian.


You could use Gruffalo horn instead - although Gruffalo are harder to
catch.




http://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/2208.html
Joe

Anybody have experience with buying leather from those folks? Looks like
some fairly reasonable prices. Hard to know what your getting without
looking/feeling/smelling it but...

GA


"Joe Gorman" wrote in message
...
http://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/2208.html
Joe

Sorry, I'm only a possible future customer. I just keep a lot of
bookmarks.
Joe

Greyangel wrote:
Anybody have experience with buying leather from those folks? Looks like
some fairly reasonable prices. Hard to know what your getting without
looking/feeling/smelling it but...

GA


"Joe Gorman" wrote in message
...

http://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/2208.html
Joe

"Joe Gorman" wrote in message
...
Sorry, I'm only a possible future customer. I just keep a lot of
bookmarks.
Joe

Well if you do before I do let me know how it goes and I'll do the same. I
need a good bit of leather to work with pretty soon. Hard to get by without
leather if you're gonna make knives.

GA


Greyangel wrote:
Anybody have experience with buying leather from those folks? Looks
like
some fairly reasonable prices. Hard to know what your getting without
looking/feeling/smelling it but...

GA

"Joe Gorman" wrote in message
...
http://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/2208.html
Joe

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 21:05:09 -0700, "Greyangel"
wrote:

Hard to get by without leather if you're gonna make knives.

Easier than doing it the other way round though.

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 21:05:09 -0700, "Greyangel"
wrote:

Hard to get by without leather if you're gonna make knives.

Easier than doing it the other way round though.


Ha! I suppose so! I just did a wooden sheath for a knife and liked it so
much I'll probably do a lot more in the future. Still used a bit of leather
to finish it out though.

GA

"Greyangel" wrote
Ha! I suppose so! I just did a wooden sheath for a knife and liked it so
much I'll probably do a lot more in the future. Still used a bit of
leather
to finish it out though.

Sure is the step up-
A lot of the reason I work multi-media is that one can't make any material
do all things. I come out of that weird 50's Cowboy Chic era; silver
mounted, hand-carved, full raised, puffed and padded, double fitted-
yaddayadda. You have to work a little wood (or a lot), some leather, some
silver; maybe some lapidary,......
The best 'utilitarian' sheathes are probably in wood; leather is a
compromise. The surface of wood is vulnerable, and if it splits, your sheath
falls apart- so you cover it with leather. The edges of wood/leather are
vulnerable, as are 'wear points', so you cover them with metal.
Composite sheathes combine the attributes of the materials soas to produce
the best sheath possible.
Then you can cover the whole thing with pictures......

Chas

"Chas" wrote in message
...
"Greyangel" wrote
Ha! I suppose so! I just did a wooden sheath for a knife and liked it
so
much I'll probably do a lot more in the future. Still used a bit of
leather
to finish it out though.

Sure is the step up-
A lot of the reason I work multi-media is that one can't make any material
do all things. I come out of that weird 50's Cowboy Chic era; silver
mounted, hand-carved, full raised, puffed and padded, double fitted-
yaddayadda. You have to work a little wood (or a lot), some leather, some
silver; maybe some lapidary,......
The best 'utilitarian' sheathes are probably in wood; leather is a
compromise. The surface of wood is vulnerable, and if it splits, your
sheath
falls apart- so you cover it with leather. The edges of wood/leather are
vulnerable, as are 'wear points', so you cover them with metal.
Composite sheathes combine the attributes of the materials soas to produce
the best sheath possible.
Then you can cover the whole thing with pictures......
Chas

Amen Brother Chas!
I like the wood 'cause it shapes so much better. But then I'll probably
never do anything in wood as nice as you've done in leather ;-) Hadn't
really thought how to go about doing the metal caps and stuff. Have to work
on that...

GA

"Greyangel" wrote
Composite sheathes combine the attributes of the materials soas to
produce
the best sheath possible.
I like the wood 'cause it shapes so much better.

Sure- and remember that you're probably *better off* using a soft, light
wood for your sheathes, as opposed to a heavy exotic, or hardwood.
I collect SEAsian- most of them sheathed in wood, sometimes horn. Often,
they're covered in braided strips of 'bamboo' (who knows what it actually
is), and become a wicker framework construction.
The techniques translate to 'our' kind of usage pretty readily- good stuff.

Chas

On Sat, 30 Oct 2004 08:13:22 -0600, "Chas"
wrote:

"Greyangel" wrote
Composite sheathes combine the attributes of the materials soas to
produce
the best sheath possible.
I like the wood 'cause it shapes so much better.

Sure- and remember that you're probably *better off* using a soft, light
wood for your sheathes, as opposed to a heavy exotic, or hardwood.
I collect SEAsian- most of them sheathed in wood, sometimes horn. Often,
they're covered in braided strips of 'bamboo' (who knows what it actually
is), and become a wicker framework construction.
The techniques translate to 'our' kind of usage pretty readily- good stuff.

Chas

Most of the SEA examples in my collection are sheathed in soft, light
woods of various sorts. One, a Philippine barong, has a sheath that is
noticeably luan.

Handles are usually a very dense wood, however.

--RC

"You Know Things Are Weird When Arnold Schwartznegger
Is Governor of California, Ronald Reagan Is One Of Our
Most Beloved Ex-Presidents, And John Kerry Is Running
For President On His Vietnam War Record"

wrote
Most of the SEA examples in my collection are sheathed in soft, light
woods of various sorts. One, a Philippine barong, has a sheath that is
noticeably luan.

The draw of some of the weapons split the sheath- they were, or could be,
very consumable. Some weapons were never drawn except for mortal combat, or
the first move defending attack from surprise was a strike with the sheathed
weapon that opened it bare.
Court weapons are often sheathed in decorative woods- or stuff that belonged
to rich guys.

Handles are usually a very dense wood, however.

Oh yeah- and lots of use of other rare and precious materials; ivories,
coral and stone, nuts; wonderful stuff.

Chas

"Chas" wrote in message
...
"Greyangel" wrote
Composite sheathes combine the attributes of the materials soas to
produce
the best sheath possible.
I like the wood 'cause it shapes so much better.

Sure- and remember that you're probably *better off* using a soft, light
wood for your sheathes, as opposed to a heavy exotic, or hardwood.
I collect SEAsian- most of them sheathed in wood, sometimes horn. Often,
they're covered in braided strips of 'bamboo' (who knows what it actually
is), and become a wicker framework construction.
The techniques translate to 'our' kind of usage pretty readily- good
stuff.
Chas

Ok, gotta ask. Why soft wood? I wouldn't think your average hard wood would
be all that offensive to the blade edge though I suppose some of the stuff
out there could be. I did this last one in Black Walnut that was on the
verge on dry rot. Did kind of wonder about problems with some wood oils.
I've heard there can be but not sure which ones.

GA

"Greyangel" wrote
Ok, gotta ask. Why soft wood?

Weight, ease of manufacture, moisture wicking properties, forgiveness to
softer steel perhaps.

I wouldn't think your average hard wood would
be all that offensive to the blade edge though I suppose some of the stuff
out there could be.

It's used more on shorter blades- probably weight considerations as well.

I did this last one in Black Walnut that was on the
verge on dry rot. Did kind of wonder about problems with some wood oils.
I've heard there can be but not sure which ones.

The Japanese use 'hinoki' wood because of it's neutral chemical and
hydrophilic properties- seems to me it's a softwood, but I may be mistaken.

Chas