i like it

i like it a lot. It makes a good looking pen.

Great pen, easy to make

I made two matching pens with the buffalo horn and they were very easy to make and turned out to be very pretty. The best way to do it is to soak the blanks overnight and always to use sharp tools

A wonderful conversation piece

I turned one of these for a customer and he loves the look at feel. It has a few brown streaks through it and that just adds to the look. I told him if he wanted another out of horn I would do it but would charge a "stink" fee because even my dogs wouldn't come in my shop while turning this.

Fine Blanks

Turning a horn is a little different than wood or plastic, and requires a little more time, to complete, but the finished pen is striking!

Not what was expected

I turn a lot of pens with many different materials. I have turned deer antler, and it was quite easy. Tried the buffalo horn 3 times without success. It cracks very easily. Finished one pen (I thought) successfully, but micro fissures opened up after a few days. Had to discard. Hopefully you have better success.

A unique material

I purchased these buffalo horn blanks for the first time. I have to say that I was a bit skeptical and thought that the finish would be difficult to achieve. After I used the product, the finish of the project was very good, and it is a great story to tell about the type of material you are using. I would recommend this to anyone.

Blanks

Looks good instructions were helpful.

Not to toot my own horn, but...

These blanks turned beautifully, but similarly to acrylic, one must use sharp lathe tools and a light touch. They polish to a high sheen with micro-abrasives. Mine didn't come with turning instructions, so I didn't know to wet them prior to drilling. But I predrill undersized holes (with a bradpoint bit) prior to drilling large holes (with a machinist bit) anyway, so I had no problem except that the slick, round blanks like to spin in the drill vise! And of course if you tighten the vise too tightly to prevent this, the blank will compress around the bit when you're most of the way through, exacerbating the problem. So again use a sharp bit and a light touch. One more thing: Despite the uniformly black exterior, I found the interior color of these blanks to range from molasses to jet black, so be sure to use the same blank for a given pen unless you are looking for contrasting colors. The blacker ones look very sleek, the browner ones look very old school. They're definitely worth the extra trouble, and yes, they stink and release a finely powdered dust, so I'd recommend a dust mask when drilling and sanding.

Makes a great looking pen

This make a very nice looking pen. Some horns have white streaks which adds to the character

Indian River Buffalo Horn

This horn is a nice dense material that turns more like an acrylic than horn. Finishes great and has almost no odor unlike most horns. Will definitely reorder.