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Originally Posted by Conogre
Hi Bill;
I too have seen blond colored rhino horn, and, as you mentioned, it is very similar to wood in its graininess and likewise in its being opaque, with no member of the rhino family having translucent horns.
Another way to tell is to moisten it...if it's rhino horn it will expand, making the hairs individually apparent and giving it a slightly "sticky" feel, as in very fine velcro, one of the prime reasons it was (and still is, thus the poaching problem) prized for hilt material, as opposed to regular horn, which will become slippery.
While the horns of giraffe are less compacted than rhinocerous, they are still used rarely to occasionally, very fortunate for giraffes, while the hoofs of many of the large quadrapeds are very similar to the material found in their horns and could also be easily used for hilting/ scabbard sheating purposes, although they are more commonly used, of course, as "Jello". 
Mike |
Mike,
I tried your moistening suggestion and it does feel 'sticky' and not slippery. But with a strong light behind it, it IS translucent.
The blade and scabbard are much better than the average Ethiopean sword and a quailty hilt would be in order.
IF this is not rhino, what could it be?
A friend suggested it might be cow horn.
Discussion on this Forum earlier about hilt possibilities.
http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002288.html
"Jello?" This is making me hungry.
Do they make a rhino or giraffe flavored Jello? On second thought, I think that I'll pass.
