# Has anyone on here ever stabilized horn?



## Damienw (Oct 27, 2014)

Hey all,

I'm just after some advice on how to go about stabilizing a small piece of wooly rhino horn i've got....don't worry...i didn't go out and kill it....the thing was dead for a good 10,000 years before i came along....

Has anyone around here ever tried stabilizing normal horns or bones? 

I'm somewhat concerned that simply drenching it in CA glue might result in just creating a surface coating instead of penetrating the inner structure of the horn as its rather dense and greasy stuff. 

Any help and advice would be much appreciated


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## Schroedc (Oct 27, 2014)

I've stabilized whitetail antler without any problems.


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## Damienw (Oct 27, 2014)

Schroedc said:


> I've stabilized whitetail antler without any problems.


Did you have to do anything special to do it? or did you just drown it in glue/resin?


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## Schroedc (Oct 27, 2014)

Damienw said:


> Did you have to do anything special to do it? or did you just drown it in glue/resin?



I used a vacuum chamber with cactus juice from TurnTex. Let's see if we can get Curtis to comment. @TurnTex

Reactions: Like 1


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## NYWoodturner (Oct 27, 2014)

I have stabilized deer antler, wooly mammoth tooth and giraffe bone. It will all stabilize easily. The heat cure needs not be too aggressive but they require nothing special. Like Colin I use a vacuum chamber and resin.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Damienw (Oct 27, 2014)

Thanks so much!


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## Damienw (Oct 27, 2014)

While we're talking about it though, i have a second, more obscure question to ask too. 

As i do a bit of carving here and there and have been looking for an easily available large natural horn with walls thick enough to some deep pierced relief work and have met with no success after a very long search, i was wondering whether it might be possible to 'make' a horn like material for carving? 

My idea was to densely bind an inch thick layer of horse hair around a non pourous and removable core of some sort, and then to use a resin + a vacuum chamber to get it to spread throughout the material, removing the core at the end once everything's dry. 

Just curious as to what others think of this idea and whether more experienced people than myself can foresee any major difficulties in doing it?


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## TurnTex (Oct 28, 2014)

Schroedc said:


> I used a vacuum chamber with cactus juice from TurnTex. Let's see if we can get Curtis to comment. @TurnTex



Just wanted to drop in and say that I concur with what others have said. Have never done rhino horn but have done other obscure things including rock, 3D printed parts, and cigars!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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