Does horn get brittle/unuseable with age?

[yewsage]

Hi,

i want to buy some horn off the big auction site, "texas longhorn" and i wonder if 2 year old horn is too old.  Are people using this material for composite bows?

[Apex Predator]

I've got an old cow horn that is probably 50 years old that belonged to my grandfather.  The bugs have eaten some through the years, but it appears just as sound as newer stuff, if you look past the holes.

[yewsage]

have you built bows with horn?  you're a good bowyer.

[rainman]

Jason Mike at Dryad bows will not use Longhorn and he lives in TX.  Send him an E-mail and he can tell you why.

[Apex Predator]

I've just used it for overlays.

[yewsage]

@ rainman:

probably some texan taboo against using the relatives as building material!

seriously, though, how come?

[R.W.]

I have read that cow horn isn't as good as the water buffalo horn too.

Don't know why this is.

The NA indigenous peoples did use bison/buffalo horn, and sheep horn to build their bows.

Where in Canada are you from Yewsage?

RW in Alberta

[yewsage]

BC.  Where i live vine maple is pretty common.  Yew is less common but you can find it.  I usually just take branches, leave the trees growing.  Not with vine maple, though:  you could harvest all the good bowstaves in a vine maple forest and you'd never even dent the ecosystem.

[yewsage]

i'm gonna order gemsbok online.  I really wanna make horn bows

[John Sturtevant]

I've had soem gemsbuk horn that was either too old or stored outside and was badly checked and brittle.   I believe how it is stored may have as much to do with it as age.

Never used longhorn.   Have heard it delaminates...but you hear a lot of things so can't help.

[R.W.]

Yewsage,

Try googling "Boone Trading Company."

They have both gemsbuck, and water buffalo horn for sale.

Thomas Duvernay has a DVD on horn bow making, and there is another one "Building the Asiatic Composite bow" that shows a lot of the steps in the process.

Lived most of my days in the East Kootenays till lack of work sent me to Alberta.

Sure miss the mountains.

Best of luck with your project!

RW

[yewsage]

thanks, so you think it's a gamble with oryx horn ?