Third Scrimshaw Attempt

[Pro Libertate]

This is the third attempt scrimshaw attempt I’ve made in about as many weeks: inspired by the “Eversley horn”, showing plans of Havana and Matanzas harbors.

[aaronc]

Well done.

[Robby]

Nice!!!!!
Robby

[Tim Crosby]

 Well done, Nice horn work also, did you make it too?

   Tim

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Very well done!

I do not know what tool you are using to scratch, but it gives it the right look!

Cory Joe

[Pro Libertate]

Thanks, guys! I hadn’t done anything artistically since college (some 15 years ago) and I’ve truly missed that creative outlet.

I wish I could say I made the horn. This was actually done for me by John over at October Country, which just so happens to be 15 minutes away from my home in Hayden. I just recently purchased the Sibley’s book on horn making at a Rendezvous (a $20 score!), and I’m currently in the process of acquiring a lathe and getting set up to build my own.

Below are a couple others that I’ve completed. Feedback is always welcome and appreciated.

[Stoner creek]

Will go well with that new .36 cal that you just acquired!
Wayne

[John Proud]

Delightful horns with impressive engraving. You certainly have the "hand" for engraving.

I keep a computer file of "Maker's Marks". Do you mark your horns? I was unable to find a mark in the pictures you posted, perhaps I missed it. If you do mark them would you mind sharing a image of the mark with me for that file?

John

 

[Pro Libertate]

Delightful horns with impressive engraving. You certainly have the "hand" for engraving.

I keep a computer file of "Maker's Marks". Do you mark your horns? I was unable to find a mark in the pictures you posted, perhaps I missed it. If you do mark them would you mind sharing a image of the mark with me for that file?

John

 

Thank you, John! That’s very kind of you. Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for the horns (they were made by October Country in Dalton Gardens, ID. It never occurred to me to sign my work insofar as the scrimshaw is concerned.

[Pro Libertate]

Will go well with that new .36 cal that you just acquired!
Wayne

Agreed, Wayne! I’ve got them both hanging up on my bedroom wall.

I sure love that little rifle! The more I shoot it, the more enamored I become.

[TDM]

You did a really nice job. I like your work. 

[Frozen Run]

I love map horns, in particular how the map is used as a medium to tell a story more so than a direction. And that lion on the other horn is breathtaking. That is transformative work, they deserve your mark no matter where you got the horn from. Great job!

[Pro Libertate]

You did a really nice job. I like your work.

Thanks for saying so! My hope is to hone my skills and eventually do some commissioned work. My chief concern is that 20+ hours of holding a pin holder or scribe wreaks havoc on my fingers. Some mornings the stiffness and numbness is so bad that I can’t close my fist, and I’m a little bit worried about contracting carpal tunnel syndrome. I’m hoping I can come up with some sort of a solution.

[Pro Libertate]

Very well done!

I do not know what tool you are using to scratch, but it gives it the right look!

Cory Joe

Thanks, Cory! I’m using a mix of sewing machine needles held in a pin holder and a tungsten-carbide tipped scribe. I tried the dremel thing for a while (which is certainly faster and alleviates hand cramping), but it just doesn’t give you the same fine lines.

[Pro Libertate]

I love map horns, in particular how the map is used as a medium to tell a story more so than a direction. And that lion on the other horn is breathtaking. That is transformative work, they deserve your mark no matter where you got the horn from. Great job!

Thank you so much for the positive feedback! I truly appreciate it. I share your fondness for map horns and I look forward to doing more of them.

Regarding the lion horn: I had gotten 2/3 of the way done with the scrimshaw when I discovered it had an inch-long crack near the tip that went all the way through the horn. Unfortunately, it’s relegated to being a wall hanger. I won’t make that mistake again!

[Frozen Run]

Thanks for saying so! My hope is to hone my skills and eventually do some commissioned work. My chief concern is that 20+ hours of holding a pin holder or scribe wreaks havoc on my fingers. Some mornings the stiffness and numbness is so bad that I can’t close my fist, and I’m a little bit worried about contracting carpal tunnel syndrome. I’m hoping I can come up with some sort of a solution.

I have a friend who does very impressive scrimshaw work. He uses a number of inexpensive or junk stockman style pocket knives with the tip ground off square so it comes to a 90 degree corner where the blade ends, that front corner digs into the horn and he's able to twist and roll the horn around while cradling it in his chest to make the cuts. Different blades have different thicknesses or he can dress them down on a stone or whatever to the thicknesses he wants to create different line thicknesses. I haven't tried it yet, but maybe that will help out with your hands?

Your skills are already honed to do commissioned work, I bet if you started posting stuff for sale that you could start making some good bucks on that work.

I wouldn't necessarily relegate the cracked horn to being a wall hanger. I got to see some pretty impressive horners at a recent class I attended and some of the more advanced students reminded me more of silversmiths than anything else. I bet if you posted it in its own thread you would get a lot good advice on how to repair it. It's ingenious what they come up with, using modern compounds to make it sound and then hiding it under a period repair. Stuff like that.

[Bob Gerard]

Wonderful work! I also like the brownish ink you use- looks similar to the old horns we see. Keep at it!

[T.C.Albert]

Nice work for sure. For me horn carving was a learning curve for my hand muscles. It took awhile until my hand strength allowed me to  comfortably carve as long as I wanted to, I reached a peak and now the older I get I see it reversing and I need more frequent breaks. I would suppose it’s similar for others.
TC Albert

[Pro Libertate]

Thanks for the tips, Frozen Run! I’ll definitely have to look into the stockman knife thing and give it a try!

[Pro Libertate]

Wonderful work! I also like the brownish ink you use- looks similar to the old horns we see. Keep at it!

Thank you, Bob! Looking to start another project real soon here.

[Pro Libertate]

Nice work for sure. For me horn carving was a learning curve for my hand muscles. It took awhile until my hand strength allowed me to  comfortably carve as long as I wanted to, I reached a peak and now the older I get I see it reversing and I need more frequent breaks. I would suppose it’s similar for others.
TC Albert

Thanks, T.C.. Mine seems to be more of an issue with the fascia and a numbness/tingling down my arm and into my fingers. Did you ever experience that? I’ve tried to pick up my scribe a couple times this past week and can’t manage to do more than perhaps 15 minutes or so before having to put it down. It’s $#*! getting old!

[T.C.Albert]

No numbness etc.  I just get weak and start messing up the cuts. Instead of carving a horn in a  slow relaxed weekend, it now takes me a lot longer with a bunch of starting and stopping. Here’s one in working on lately. It’s been weeks already and will likely be weeks more.

TC

[Tony N]

Beautiful work!  Well done!

Tony

[snapper]

Certainly not what I was expecting.   Outstanding work.   You are obviously an artist.

Fleener

[Frozen Run]

I feel like a good bit of the joint discomfort that comes with scrimshawing is from how difficult it can be to manage the horn will working on it. You end up losing a lot of efficiency from your scribe hand and are forced to overwork it. I was fortunate enough to sit by a journeyman horner at that class I went to and he let me borrow this rice bag he made, he brought in extras for people to try out. It was about as big as whatever you'd imagine you'd need to rest a horn on and it was made from chamois leather (natural shammy cloth like what you'd dry your car with), the tackier side out. You could put that chamois rice bag over a vice or, in my case, this bag of rice and beans I brought in and the horn would conform perfectly to it and it would grip it firm. Wouldn't move while you were working on it. I'm about to stitch one up for myself.