Karl Wilburn horns

[Gaeckle]

Any of you remember Karl Wilburn? He had the best horns, great for scrimshanding work. Where did he get his horns from? Today, horns are so heavily polished it is difficult to cut a decent line.

[Tim Crosby]

 I used to buy from Carl when I lived in Va. years ago, he used to advertise in "MB" always good horns. At that time there were some large slaughter houses around and most cows then were horned.
 As far as the polish I would think rasping and sanding down to 220 would give a good work surface or are you talking about the fact that they are sanded down to far and all the softer work surface is gone?

   Tim

[John Proud]

Everybody my age remembers Carl as he was the major horn supplier up until he retired in about the mid 1990's. Visited him once to buy a load of horn and he mentioned that he imported it but did not say from where.

The vast majority of horns available today are imported. Since the "mad cow" disease scare, imported horns have only been available polished. Probably chemically disinfected, too in order to address disease transmission issues. In my view, polishing has resulted in many good horns being destroyed by over sanding to address some small defect. Also, the final polishing seems to work harden the surface. I notice that initial filing to even the surface is somewhat difficult until all the polished surface is removed.

Once that polished surface is removed however they engrave well. As Tim said, file and sand, or scrape, to get rid of that hard polished surface.

John

 

[T.C.Albert]

I actually have one snow- white / dark tipped KW horn left. Been saving it for something special.
Still have the package he sold it in and the hand written sales receipt.
I wish horns like that were still available too.

Tim A

[Gaeckle]

I used to buy from Carl when I lived in Va. years ago, he used to advertise in "MB" always good horns. At that time there were some large slaughter houses around and most cows then were horned.
 As far as the polish I would think rasping and sanding down to 220 would give a good work surface or are you talking about the fact that they are sanded down to far and all the softer work surface is gone?

   Tim

The horn surface is polished and the softer material is gone. For polished horns, I use coarse steel wool to take the edge off the polished surface, or some dull sandpaper

[Tim Crosby]

 I have never worked a polished horn that I did not remove all the polish/shine from it in the shaping and finishing of the horn.

   Tim

[Jeff Murray]

I recently acquired a few horns that were polished.  Depending on the thickness at the base of the horn, you can use 120 grit to clean them up pretty quickly.  One was pretty thin at the base, so I started with finer grit.  They cleaned up nicely and take scrimshaw with no problem.  Just watch for shiny spots that you might miss when sanding.  Your scribe can run if you hit those at the wrong angle.

[bigsmoke]

How come the horns are all polished now?
Believe me, it isn't because the importers wish it so.  It just adds to the cost.
If you want to pitch a bitch at someone because of it, direct your problem to the USDA.
You see, as I understand it the last time I brought an order in, here is the deal.
First, the horns have to originate from a country that is not infested with hoof - mouth disease, whatever that is called.  Next, there has to be a statement that says the horns have been boiled in 212 degree water for 20 minutes.  This must be signed by the State Veterinarian.  Then here is the fun part.  If the horn is polished, it becomes a finished product, regardless of what happens to it after the importer sells it.  If the horn is not polished, it has to be shipped via a bonded carrier to a licensed, approved facility where it must be boiled in 212 degree water for 20 minutes, regardless of whether or not it was done in the country of origin.  I am not aware of any chemical that has to be applied to the horn.
So, that was the routine for the last few orders of horns that I brought in from South America.  The last one was in 2014, IIRC.  It would not surprise me if things haven't changed to a more strict protocol since then.
And then, if the Port of Entry is something like Los Angeles, it really gets interesting.  I have had Customs come by my shipment and classify the horns as Quarantined.  The transport company will only hold the horns for just a few days before they start charging for storage.  So much per pound per day.  I have had that add up to almost a thousand bucks by the time USDA/Customs gets their heads out of their #&%'s and releases the shipment.  I have also had to call the head Veterinarian in Washington, DC, explain the situation to him/her and ask for the local office to get their understanding updated.  @!*% fools.
When I lived in Idaho, my Port of Entry was Spokane, WA.  USDA/Customs was a lot easier to get along with there.
As far as Carl Wilburn goes, I believe he was getting his horns from Europe somewhere.  At least that was the impression I got from him.  He was pretty close mouthed about it.
John (Bigsmoke)