How much heat can Rhino Horn handle?

ariel · 29th December 2018, 07:35 PM

Jose,
Aren’t you too harsh on the jeweler?
He said he could solder it, but wanted to know first whether horn will survive it.
IMHO, he was perfect.

roanoa · 29th December 2018, 11:39 PM

OK. The hilt is rhino. Heat will not MELT it, just BURN IT. I have broken bits and pieces of rhino horn from messed up Ethiopian swords, so I decided to try. If you try to burn one of your own fingernail (after you clip it.....) you will get the same result. It chars more than burns. You can scrape off the charred surface and re-polish it. This is not what one wants to do to a good piece of rhino horn. A good epoxy will do a better job. By the way, there are epoxies designed for jewellery making. Cheers, Ron

Battara · 30th December 2018, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ariel

Jose,
Aren’t you too harsh on the jeweler?
He said he could solder it, but wanted to know first whether horn will survive it.
IMHO, he was perfect.

Any horn will burn. If he knows nothing at all about horn, then I guess that might be forgivable. But that would also mean that he was somewhat narrow in his scope of experience. At that type of heat, anything organic would burn.

I do apologize if I came across caustic.

Tim Simmons · 30th December 2018, 06:25 AM

You could do it using a puk welding machine.. I have one ideal for this type of job. It is welding through 10x optics with a needle electrode. Expensive kit and a steep learning curve. An even better way is laser welding but I do not have a laser welding unit and your job might not fit in the laser unit. I live in the UK. I would find a jeweller or silversmith in your area that is using a puk welding unit near you should be straight forward. I better pic would help.

https://www.bettsmetalsales.com/jewe...uk-welding/puk

Drabant1701 · 30th December 2018, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

You could do it using a puk welding machine.. I have one ideal for this type of job. It is welding through 10x optics with a needle electrode. Expensive kit and a steep learning curve. An even better way is laser welding but I do not have a laser welding unit and your job might not fit in the laser unit. I live in the UK. I would find a jeweller or silversmith in your area that is using a puk welding unit near you should be straight forward. I better pic would help.

Again, thank you for taking the time to help me with this. The Jeweller I spoke to did mention a laser welding machine when i asked him about another restoration that I want help with, but he said that laser welding equipment is expensive. He did know a good jeweller in Stockholm that had one and could help me with that one. Im going down to Stockholm in the spring, so I might let him weld this one to.
I will have to have a good think about this one. That plastic steel is a good option to, but I liked the idea of soldering since it can be un-done, as you all know epoxys are not easy to remove once hardened.

Victrix · 30th December 2018, 10:19 AM

Ideally I guess you would want to restore the item using historically correct methods if possible? I think I have read posts here about using traditional resins to re-attach grips etc.

You may want to check out Paraloid B-72 (http://www.conservation-resources.co...roducts_id=600) which is supposedly used by professionals at museums to restore antiques. It’s favoured as it’s less visible, degrades less, and is supposedly reversible. I have found it more difficult than expected to work with myself. I would try buying the glue tube version rather than the pellets.

Tim Simmons · 30th December 2018, 10:23 AM

Yes worth doing properly. Done well would not look any different to. silver soldering. Someone in Stockholm will have either a PUK weld or Laser unit. They will probably want a low 3 figure sum for this rather precious job.

Battara · 31st December 2018, 05:47 AM

This would definitely be a better option.

Ian · 31st December 2018, 06:15 AM

Guys:

Just a reminder. If you are conducting transactions please do so offline using PM or email. We try to keep this forum free of commerce.

Ian.

29th December 2018, 07:35 PM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Jose, Aren’t you too harsh on the jeweler? He said he could solder it, but wanted to know first whether horn will survive it. IMHO, he was perfect.

29th December 2018, 11:39 PM	#2
roanoa Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 241	OK. The hilt is rhino. Heat will not MELT it, just BURN IT. I have broken bits and pieces of rhino horn from messed up Ethiopian swords, so I decided to try. If you try to burn one of your own fingernail (after you clip it.....) you will get the same result. It chars more than burns. You can scrape off the charred surface and re-polish it. This is not what one wants to do to a good piece of rhino horn. A good epoxy will do a better job. By the way, there are epoxies designed for jewellery making. Cheers, Ron

30th December 2018, 06:25 AM	#4
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,875	You could do it using a puk welding machine.. I have one ideal for this type of job. It is welding through 10x optics with a needle electrode. Expensive kit and a steep learning curve. An even better way is laser welding but I do not have a laser welding unit and your job might not fit in the laser unit. I live in the UK. I would find a jeweller or silversmith in your area that is using a puk welding unit near you should be straight forward. I better pic would help. https://www.bettsmetalsales.com/jewe...uk-welding/puk

30th December 2018, 10:19 AM	#6
Victrix Member Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: Sweden Posts: 755	Ideally I guess you would want to restore the item using historically correct methods if possible? I think I have read posts here about using traditional resins to re-attach grips etc. You may want to check out Paraloid B-72 (http://www.conservation-resources.co...roducts_id=600) which is supposedly used by professionals at museums to restore antiques. It’s favoured as it’s less visible, degrades less, and is supposedly reversible. I have found it more difficult than expected to work with myself. I would try buying the glue tube version rather than the pellets.

30th December 2018, 10:23 AM	#7
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,875	Yes worth doing properly. Done well would not look any different to. silver soldering. Someone in Stockholm will have either a PUK weld or Laser unit. They will probably want a low 3 figure sum for this rather precious job.

31st December 2018, 05:47 AM	#8
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,310	This would definitely be a better option.

31st December 2018, 06:15 AM	#9
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,454	Guys: Just a reminder. If you are conducting transactions please do so offline using PM or email. We try to keep this forum free of commerce. Ian.