Straightening horn?

[Mafort]

How do you all get your horn straight? I am having issues doing so

[NorthHeart]

Need more details. What stage of the build are you in? Pics?

[Mafort]

They’re already cut and thinned down to about 1/8”. I’d like to try and get them a bit straighter before I start the gluing process

[JNystrom]

Boiling, steaming or heat gun. In that preferred order, for a short period of time only, horn bends quite easily. 5-10 minutes? Its important to not overdo it, heat weakens the horn.

By boiling the horns, you can actually bend really thick horn too, as people have shown when making those sheep horn bows.

[Mafort]

I tried steam and boiling and they would not stay straight. I tried direct heat last night so I wonder how that worked out. I won’t unwrap them till Saturday at least. But it’s looking like they will curl again

[Mafort]

They may be too thick still

[Pat B]

Are you clamping them between boards to keep them flat and straight while they cool and dry?

[Mafort]

I tied them to board using the same method and tool you use to bind the horn to the wood core. Not clamped between two boards but they’re tied flat. I may thin them more if they aren’t thin enough and then try again.

[JNystrom]

You could submerge them into water for some days. Some guys have only used this method to straighten their horns. Soak well and then bend straight.
Soaking and then boiling, should work wonders also.

[Mafort]

You could submerge them into water for some days. Some guys have only used this method to straighten their horns. Soak well and then bend straight.
Soaking and then boiling, should work wonders also.

I’ve got them semi straight but that’s not good enough. Im gunna try this method and see how it works out.

[DC]

Are you trying to flatten the strips or bend them sideways? I have no experience with horn but I just ordered some and I'm trying to learn stuff now. I think I read somewhere that it's tough to bend the strips sideways. Is this true? Hope you don't mind me piggy backing on your thread.

[Aaron H]

 You don't ever want to try to take side bend or twist out of horn, because it will always return to its original shape, even after glueing to your core, which will inevitably end with a twisted bow....not good.

[Mafort]

Are you trying to flatten the strips or bend them sideways? I have no experience with horn but I just ordered some and I'm trying to learn stuff now. I think I read somewhere that it's tough to bend the strips sideways. Is this true? Hope you don't mind me piggy backing on your thread.

By all means ask away. As I understand it you never want to bend your horn sideways or you can break it, twist it, or deform your core and end up with a broken bow. The best thing I did was use heat over a stove top to heat up the strips and tighten them to the board. Finished another session about 40 minutes ago and they are going to stay tied to the board until the morning. Soak them overnight really helped. They bent way easier and as far as I can tell there’s no cracks or holes or anything happening anywhere.