Official Luthiers Forum!

I wanted to buy a real buffalo horn blank, so I hit the BIN on eBay. What I got was a piece of shiny, colored epoxy. Anyone got a trusted source?

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

LMI.
Get more than you need. Chips easily. Took me three tries last one I did.

Steve

I bought a bunch of nice horn from Andy DePaule a few years ago; looks like he's still selling nuts and the like: http://www.luthiersupply.com/nutsandsaddles.html

Chris IME horn can be pretty soft, think toe nail.....

I've used black ram's horn a couple of times but was not pleased with how very soft it was... These days I'll use it if the instrument is not played much but for nuts and saddles for a working musician's ax I strongly suspect that this stuff won't last very long.

With this said if the color is what you are mostly after black corian may be a better bet in the utility sense AND way cheaper too.

One of my next projects wants to have a black nut and saddle. I'm considering African blackwood. I have scraps of suitable size and it seems like it ought to be plenty hard enough. I've never handled horn, but I would imagine it to be softer than ABW.

_________________
Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Thanks, fellers. I have returned the offending plastic bits, and will just use my standard unbleached bone.... which has never failed me.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Inlaidartist on ebay sells black horn, but I seriously won't use it for nuts or saddles. The material is too soft.

If you must have black nut, you can use graphtech or something, ebony/african blackwood will work as well.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I HATE GraphTech stuff with the power of a thousand suns.
I will NEVER use it on my personal stuff..... but if a client requests it on his or her axe....

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Or you can always use black anodized aluminum, assuming you have the ability to anodize the aluminum yourself...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Unless you are using T6, aluminum is too soft. But it is easily blackened with a selenium solution that model railroad hobbyists use all the time. But thanks, anyway.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

sir i sell too.