Any good online tutorials for Scrimshaw?

[C. Cash]

Any tips/links?  My goal is to scrim my own horn.  Any material that makes a good practice surface.  I do have a black(european?) horn that I could practice with but I assume would be hard to see.

[John Archer]

The Horner's Bench website has a forum on scrimshaw.

John.

[Tim Crosby]

 A search of the ALR shows this, it is very well done.

  http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=6915.0

  Tim C.

[Tim Crosby]

 Here is the liink to the Horners Bench.

  http://thehornersbench.proboards.com/index.cgi?

  Tim C.

[skillman]

This should put you in the tutorial section of the Horners Bench.

http://thehornersbench.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=howto

Hope it is of some help.

Steve

[C. Cash]

Thank you guys!  Very much appreciated.  Chris

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Is there something I'm missing with the registration procedure at the Horner's site?  I can't seem to give them a valid user name or password.  Very frustrating.

[Hungry Horse]

I use an exact knife handle (the one that looks like a screw driver handle) and a blade ( I'm not sure of the part number) but its the one with a curved radius to the cutting edge that is convex, not concave, this allows you to cut with just the point. Doing pen, and ink, drawings using cross hatching techniques, for shading is great practice. Cheap plastic spoons work well for practice, as well. Plastic spoons are curved, and similar in density to horn or ivory. Good luck.

                     Hungry Horse

[Habu]

Is there something I'm missing with the registration procedure at the Horner's site?  I can't seem to give them a valid user name or password.  Very frustrating.

I had the same problem but finally got it to work.

[C. Cash]

I use an exact knife handle (the one that looks like a screw driver handle) and a blade ( I'm not sure of the part number) but its the one with a curved radius to the cutting edge that is convex, not concave, this allows you to cut with just the point. Doing pen, and ink, drawings using cross hatching techniques, for shading is great practice. Cheap plastic spoons work well for practice, as well. Plastic spoons are curved, and similar in density to horn or ivory. Good luck.

                     Hungry Horse

Interesting......will try that.  Would like to put Galatians 5:1(very long) on there, as well as my name.  Maybe emulate something a poor bumpkin like myself would have carved during some hours of boredom during the revolution.  Thanks again guys. 

[Horner75]

When I use an Exacto blade, I like the No. 11 and break about a third or that sharp tip off.   That gives you a little wider cut line and handy for making straight lines and gentle curves. __  I also like to use a couple scary sharp modified knife blades with handles, modified carving knives (not pictured here)  and a machinist's carbide scribe for tiny work!

Rick

[smorrison]

Here are a couple of my knives that I have made for scrim engraving.  The top one is what I mostly use now.  The blade on the bottom was my first attempt and I ground the blade at the wrong angle.



You want to grind the blade at an angle so when you hold the knife, the front and tip is going directly down into the horn material.  The little radius is for your finger to rest.



You also want to position it so the blade is perpendicular when making your cuts.



I've found that I can do some real intricate cuts with just this knife.

Scott

[C. Cash]

Wow those are great illustrations fellas.  Exactly what I needed to see to start.  I bought an exacto knife but have some pocket knives I'd like to try that with.   Very much appreciate your time and expertise.  This is gonna be fun to learn.  Thank you!

[smorrison]

When you clip the tip of your xacto blades, you only need to go about a 1/16 inch or so.  Also clip it at the same angle I showed in the above illustration and for the same reason.  Giving credit where credit is due, I was shown this method of clipping the xacto and the knife design that I use by the horner who taught me, California horner Steve Vance.

Scott M

[Horner75]

One other thing! .. It is only my opinion, but trying to do to much engraving for a first project like your suggesting is very tough and you might be better to practice on smaller engraving projects first and get the feel of it. __ A black horn isn't the way to go for learning the process, as you want to see everything your doing closely. __ Practicing on plastic spoons etc., doesn't give you the same surface as REAL horn, so get yourself a white or light colored horn to practice on and just sand off to re-use, kind of like a blackboard!

Rick

[BrianH]

smorrison
do you use your knives by pushing or pulling

[smorrison]

I pull them, rather than push.

Scott

[Hungry Horse]

I use the hooked blade, in a red Exacto handle. I always pull the cutter, if at all possible. There is just more control with a pulling stroke. Also using your thumb as a brace allows you to stop the cut when you want to ( except when you cut your thumb of course).

                        Hungry Horse

[C. Cash]

The stars finally lined up and got the chance to practice on a dyed tip horn that had delaminated to the point that it was dangerous(cracked all the way to the inside).  I tried copying the letters done by an experienced carver, above and below his work on the horn.  All I have to say is WOW...newfound respect for what you guys do.  No where near doing a horn for real but I'm having fun trying to make it work on this one.  Don't know if I like the broken exacto blade just yet but will keep on with it for a while.

[Curt Larsen]

Just came back from a trip to Alaska where I saw lots of nicely scrimed ivory in some of the locally run and owned shops.  I asked about whether these were old or new.  They stated that the work was locally done on old ivory by guys who were also tatoo artists using their tatoo needles.  Not having any tatoos, I wondered about this.

Curt L.

[Pete G.]

Don't be afraid to just jump in. A lot of original horns were done by the owner, and just like today, not all (probably most)were not artists. The books on horns show some exceptional works, but that is why they are illustrated, they are exceptional. Find some of the Madison Grant books and you will see what a more "normal" working horn looks like. Most horns I see made today strive for that exceptional look, but the reality is that there were many more horns that were much more mundane.
Buy a couple of the cheap import horns and try your hand at a homemade look. You can always sell them for what you have invested, and you might even turn out one you want to keep.

[C. Cash]

Thank you for all the info and encouragement guys!  Pulling is definitely working better.  Making tight curls I am still clueless, but trying.  Yeah, that is kind of what I'm going for....a simple, legible and somewhat period correct horn that would have done by your average Joe during his stint in the Army.  My kids maybe will pick it up after I'm gone and say, "Bless his heart....Dad was about a half a bubble off wasn't he?"

[Kermit]

My kids didn't wait. They've been saying that for a loooooong time.

And frankly, "half a bubble" may be being kind.

Thanks for this thread. I've been looking for something small and sedentary to work at while I'm post-surgery. Bought a box of plastic spoons just this afternoon. When those are all ruined I'll move on to the horn scraps I've been saving cuz they're too good to toss.

Did I hear that ol' salts used their sailmaking needles for scratching whale teeth?

[davec2]

Kermit,

To answer your last question, I was / am an "Ol' Salt".  My primary scrimshaw tool is a sail maker's needle (second from the right):



And I scratch on whales' teeth with it.  I did these two (and many more) at sea on a destroyer in the late 1970's:

[Kermit]

Thanks for the photo, Dave. I'm headed for my old ditty bag to see what's in my needle case. Haven't looked in there in a narwhal's age!