How to Make a Buffalo Horn Spoon
Buffalo horns are ideal for making spoons. Compared with the horns of domestic animals, buffalo horns are rigid and hard. The circumference of a horn's base is relatively wide, yet buffalo horns taper at a greater rate than those of most domestic animals. In addition, the horn curves to almost 90 degrees at the base, while the roughly 75 percent of the horn that remains is almost straight. The horns are short in relation to those of domestic animals of the same size, which means you can use more of the horn in making your spoon.
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Things You'll Need
- Tape measure
- Wood block
- Chalk
- Band saw
- Pot
- Grinder
- Steel wire disk
- Rotary tool
- 1/8-inch bit
Instructions
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Lay the horn on a flat surface so you have a bird's-eye view of the profile. Measure the circumference of the base of the horn with a tape measure, then divide the measurement into two. Cut a block of wood equal in height to the measurement. Place the block under the tip of the horn. Raise the tip of the horn to the same elevation as the radius of the base.
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2
Mark a chalk line from the base of the horn to the tip along the spine of the profile. Follow the curve of the horn. Cut the horn with a band saw along the chalk line with the block of wood under the tip. This bilateral cut should produce two halves of horn. Both will be crescent shaped, but only one will have a trough running through its length on the inside of the curve. Use this half to make a spoon.
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3
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Boil the spoon in water for 10 minutes. Do not overboil the horn, or the temperature will damage it. Hold the horn with leather work gloves, and buff both sides of the horn with a grinder. Take care not to hold the grinder in one place for too long. Remove no more than 1/16 inch, but buff the entire horn half. Allow the horn to dry for 24 hours.
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4
Shape the tang and the bowl of the spoon with a rotary tool. Take care not to thin the handle to the point of fragility; keep it at least 1/3 inch or thicker. This is a spoon and not a ladle; make the bowl small enough to fit into your mouth.
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References
- Photo Credit Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images
