Something Different
Tom Mullane
>Here is something totally different... and unfortunately I don't have any more of it... again, found this in the old chicken coop while collecting some corn cobs....
This is made from something that was the Colonial equivalent of today's plastic... just about anything we do with plastic today was done with this material... drinking glasses, plates, combs, etc.. all made from this natural material... Do you know what it is...
Yup good old fashion cow horn... but the problem today is that the horns on cattle are docked when the cow or bull is very young and you can't find horns that have 5-6" of thick end on them... I would venture to guess that you might find some on longhorn cattle.. but there are not all that many of them around either...
The stuff turns like plastic and takes a shine like plastic... but you have to be careful because it does have a grain and can chip out if you are not careful... I practiced on some scraps between centers just to find out what would work on it... I found that giving it a coat of BLO gave the horn an almost golden translucent look that I really liked... if no BLO is used the look is more opaque and somewhat duller... the choice is yours... IF you can find some..
This one was sanded to 800 grit, then a little BLO to give it a golden translucence and finished with CA sanded to 12000 MicroMesh
