Quote:

.... I hadn't thought about these sorts of materials before as being delicate/fragile, but I guess they are.

-Troy


Well, I wouldn't really call most true horn all that delicate or fragile - most of it is quite tough -- it's just that it can be quite dimensionally unstable, especially when used as thin scales (or even not so thin scales). Handled correctly it can be wonderful stuff -- take a look at how Ed Fowler uses it on his knives. Notice that he carefully selects the raw material to be as close as he can get to his final desired form (solid horn, not scales), so he needs only minimal shaping. Also notice he only uses hidden tang designs without a butt cap -- this allows the horn to move without affecting the construction or integrity of the design. (A hidden tang design with a "floating" butt cap that is attached only to the horn and not the tang also works very well.)

A big problem with thinner scales of horn is how they have been processed: many varieties of horn are partially to mostly hollow -- so to get the most out of the material, it is common to steam and press the hollow portion flat before slabbing (this is done to water buffalo horn a lot). This is obviously *not* a great way to produce a stable material.