Progressing from the ugly to black beauty

©2020 Barry Smith - Vintage black buffalo horn after grinding and polishing - the photo is of earlier work

I have put in quite a lot of time yesterday and today cutting vintage black buffalo horn into pieces for earrings The original horn is quite ugly as you can see in the photo below; but it ends up gorgeous as in the photo above.

©2020 Barry Smith - Not the most appealing sight - horn before cutting, grinding and polishing

As you can see I cut paired pieces that could result in about 15-20 pairs of earrings.

©2020 Barry Smith - Cutting pairs

©2020 Barry Smith - Most of the drilling has been done

©2020 Barry Smith - Drilled pairs - rough cut black buffalo horn - the red marking comes from the paint on the saw blade

This is a very dirty job and requires a really good mask. The cutting is done with a fine toothed hand saw to reduce fumes and dust. You can see the heap of powdered horn beside the vice in the photo below.

©2020 Barry Smith - Fine horn particles - horn dust really

I have all but finished drilling the holes in the pieces. The next stage will be grinding and polishing outdoors.