Gentlepersons:
I recently purchased a horn buttplate from Lewis Drake and have some questions as to what to do next. I am looking to get a very classic buttplate style that is quite tasteful.
How do I work this material? I have tried to sand the back side on a disc sander but it is very slow cutting due to the hardness of the material. Is this real buffalo horn or a type of plastic called horn? I had planned on cutting grooves in it with checkering tools but found that it will be very difficult to cut due to its hardness.
Should I make the stock concave and the buttplate convex to match or leave both flat?
Can this material be buffed via buffing wheels or will it smear like a plastic material?
I think that it should be quite thin like a plastic buttplate as to not appear to be bulky. Is horn a strong material when used in thin cross section?
Any thoughts that you may have concering working with horn will be welcomed!
TIA,
Franchi
