Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Del the cat on September 04, 2017, 10:12:52 am
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I'm thinking of making a fancy, special ELB for a lady archer who likes everything pink, red or purple, so I'm wondering does pale horn take a stain, or is there any horn that has a hint of colour to it?
I've got my eye on a nice Abalone arrow pass with some couour in it and a red leather grip. Boo backed Yew with maybe a purple heart lam in the middle...
Del making a trilam? :o Surely not... well maybe I'll scrub the core lam :)
Del
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I would try mixing up some aniline dye and actually soaking the horn for an extended period of time.
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Ta' I'll give it a go... there's no rush on this project :)
Del
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Del, i would give a hair stain/dye (right word?) a try!
As hairs are out of ceratin and horn also ...
... maybe it works.
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Just a thought since horn is the same as fingernails. If there was away to dye fingernails I think the beauty industry would have done it. But it was just pointed out to me by my grand daughter that hair is also keratin. So I asked my wife(beauty shop owner) and she said that hair dye will dye nails but not deeply. Wears off after a couple of days. There might be an opportunity there though. Maybe use hair dye for an extended period.
I'm overlapping with Simon
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(-P
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I'm told that some hair dyes need the hair to be bleached first, tho' having hair enough to dye has never been a problem for me ;)
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My wife says that the bleach lightens it so the color shows better but it also roughens it so the color adheres better. There is also some stuff that "opens the cuticle"(sounds like a sales pitch to me) and helps the color stick.
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I was reading on the web about staining horn and to get the dye to stay it was boiled, the water(and dye) is then drawn into the expanded micro pores, when it dries the pores close and keep a little dye on the surface. Maybe a strong pink food dye in boiling water for a while would work?
(Obviously when the horn is blended flush at the base with the bow, and string groove cut that will remove the dye, but might contrast well with the remaining pink?)
(Another idea is acrylic horn blanks used for making pens etc. They come in all colours and cost about a fiver tops, I've seen them used for nocks.)
R.D.
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So boil the horn in a bucket of blood for about a week would be good? >:D
Double double toil and trouble...
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Poke berries! They will stain it!
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I was reading on the web about staining horn and to get the dye to stay it was boiled, the water(and dye) is then drawn into the expanded micro pores, when it dries the pores close and keep a little dye on the surface. Maybe a strong pink food dye in boiling water for a while would work?
(Obviously when the horn is blended flush at the base with the bow, and string groove cut that will remove the dye, but might contrast well with the remaining pink?)
(Another idea is acrylic horn blanks used for making pens etc. They come in all colours and cost about a fiver tops, I've seen them used for nocks.)
R.D.
There ya go! If you stain horn pink everyone will think it's plastic anyway.
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I was reading on the web about staining horn and to get the dye to stay it was boiled, the water(and dye) is then drawn into the expanded micro pores, when it dries the pores close and keep a little dye on the surface. Maybe a strong pink food dye in boiling water for a while would work?
(Obviously when the horn is blended flush at the base with the bow, and string groove cut that will remove the dye, but might contrast well with the remaining pink?)
(Another idea is acrylic horn blanks used for making pens etc. They come in all colours and cost about a fiver tops, I've seen them used for nocks.)
R.D.
There ya go! If you stain horn pink everyone will think it's plastic anyway.
Valid point!
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Thanks for the input guys...
It goes against the grain (groan) to use plastic, but maybe it's the simplest and most permanent solution.
I'll be sure to post up the bow as and when I do it. mean while I'll make up some slivers of horn and try a few things.
... now how do I get glitter to say on a bow limb? ... :o just kidding >:D
OMG... I just hit "Buy" on a purple swirly girly acrylic pen blank on E-Bay.... shhhh don't tell on me ::)
Del
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Thanks for the input guys...
It goes against the grain (groan) to use plastic, but maybe it's the simplest and most permanent solution.
I'll be sure to post up the bow as and when I do it. mean while I'll make up some slivers of horn and try a few things.
... now how do I get glitter to say on a bow limb? ... :o just kidding >:D
OMG... I just hit "Buy" on a purple swirly girly acrylic pen blank on E-Bay.... shhhh don't tell on me ::)
Del
how about using sheeted mica? Its a grounded mineral and some indians have used it on their bows.
Have a look on my attempt: http://primitive-bows.com/osage-sinewed-plains-cheyenne-style-5426-no-58/
curious how it will come out ...
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Poke berries! They will stain it!
Those Polk berries have some lethal juices to them that would stain anything. But do they have them up North where Del is from.
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Poke berries! They will stain it!
Those Polk berries have some lethal juices to them that would stain anything. But do they have them up North where Del is from.
Just looked 'em up. They are not native to the UK :(
(I'm just North of London BTW)
Del
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googled a bit and found something
try a search for: " Dyeing Horn - Chest of Books " :OK
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googled a bit and found something
try a search for: " Dyeing Horn - Chest of Books " :OK
Blimey, that's a bit above my pay grade ;)
But ta' for the heads up.
Del
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Long ago I got to look at a guy's collection of Japanese swords. Because I was respectful of the honor due these antiques and the history they collected to that point, he opened a special teak case to show me a black very plain handled katana with a cheesy black and glitter lacquered sheath. I mentioned that the glitter kinda made the extraordinarily fine steel blade look kinda cheap. He chuckled and handed me a jewelers loupe. When I looked closely under magnification, each bit of glitter had several colors and appeared to have layers within. Turns out it was abalone mother of pearl bits. Sixteenth century glitter.
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Long ago I got to look at a guy's collection of Japanese swords. Because I was respectful of the honor due these antiques and the history they collected to that point, he opened a special teak case to show me a black very plain handled katana with a cheesy black and glitter lacquered sheath. I mentioned that the glitter kinda made the extraordinarily fine steel blade look kinda cheap. He chuckled and handed me a jewelers loupe. When I looked closely under magnification, each bit of glitter had several colors and appeared to have layers within. Turns out it was abalone mother of pearl bits. Sixteenth century glitter.
Nice story...
"Because I was respectful"... yup :) How many people would blunder along and miss the real show?
Del
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Hi Del
I Am a knife maker as well and to dye Giraffe bone I use leather dye that is spirit based and take a plumbers torch and heat it up nice and toasty (just don`t burn it) then quench it in the pink dye or blue or whatever you want it to be, it will make a sizzle noise. That is bone and it sucks some dye into it, I don`t know what horn will do maybe it is an idea to to some experiments on. (-P
Regards Martin
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ta for the ideas guys.
I bought an Acrylic pen blank to try out on a scrap of Yew with spectacular results.
I posted it on facebook and was beset by barrack room lawyers pointing out that the various societies call for "horn nocks"
Totally bonkers... are they saying Antler or bone isn't allowed? I also remember a guy who was Vegan being given a dispensation to use black nylon. Of course the various societies deny knowing of this... prob 'cos they never documented it and incorporated it into the rules.
I don't really care about the societies and I'll just make some nice horn nocks...
Still it was fun to try the acrylic.
Del
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Looks like it turned out well Del. Very nice and you can see through it. Thats neat.
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Tell them it's unicorn horn and that's just one of the color phases.
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Tell them it's unicorn horn and that's just one of the color phases.
LOL, yeah, I'd forgotten about the colour phases :-[ (that's in TBB IV isn't it? ) That'd work...
I posted a question on the Official NFAS FB page only to be told Horn only.
I was then set upon by mocking idiots one of whom thought Deer shed their "horns" every year not realising that antler and horn are different materials..... so bone and antler are "not allowed" Sheesh and people wonder why I tend to shun the archery societies and competitions!
For completeness it was apparently the EWBS who allowed the use of non animal materials.
Del
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Dang Del, scared to admit it but that looks pretty sharp. Nice job, it should work nicely for your ladies bow.
Bjrogg
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Tell them it's unicorn horn and that's just one of the color phases.
LOL, yeah, I'd forgotten about the colour phases :-[ (that's in TBB IV isn't it? ) That'd work...
I posted a question on the Official NFAS FB page only to be told Horn only.
I was then set upon by mocking idiots one of whom thought Deer shed their "horns" every year not realising that antler and horn are different materials..... so bone and antler are "not allowed" Sheesh and people wonder why I tend to shun the archery societies and competitions!
For completeness it was apparently the EWBS who allowed the use of non animal materials.
Del
Eh, dont hold it agaisnt them bud. They are just trying to preserve the sanctity of their group. Kinda like us, we dont let fiberglass in.....