where to find suppliers of horn for fid and tallow/grease horn

[Brit.Privateer]

I have been looking and looking, and cannot find a good reliable supplier of horn for a couple of projects.

The one project is making a tallow/grease horn for my sailmaking needles

The other is making a fid out of horn (check out Des Pawson's monograph on the subject for more info, in particular look at the 1691 illustration within that work).

So, does anyone have possible suppliers for this?

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

You might try Crazy Crow Traders. I haven't seen one of their catalogues fro some time nor looked at their stie for a long time but they used to offer raw horns in various sizesand lengths. Local mountainy-man rendevous here in the states are a pretty good source too.

http://www.crazycrow.com/

OK, I'm still waking up so I navigated the site til I found the horns:

http://www.crazycrow.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=555-600-000

Hope this helps some.

Bo

Edited September 18, 2011 by Capt. Bo of the WTF co.

[Brit.Privateer]

thanks Captain Bo for that. That will probably work for the grease horn, but now I need a horn that isn't hollow for the fid.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Actually all horns are hollow near the base, some more than others. Much depends on the breed and nutrition of the cattle. They (Crazy Crow) have buffalo horn also which are generally thicker and have less hollow space than dometic cattle, but they are also generally shorter and more curved. You might try looking for Texas longhorn or Spanish breeds. I'm not familiar with Highland cattle but maybe they are closer to waht you need for the fid? Hope you find what you are looking for.

Longhorn:

http://www.bumsteer.com/

Other:

http://www.woodenhawk.com/Catalog/tabid/52/CategoryID/39/List/1/Level/a/ProductID/382/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName%2CProductName

Also, what about a European stag antler tine?

Bo

Edited September 18, 2011 by Capt. Bo of the WTF co.

[Grymm]

On the subject of fids...

I work at Hampton Court Palace doing their Tudor Cookery demos and I'm always interested in 'old' style kitchen implements so when I saw a bone 'apple corer' on a stall at one of the big 'nacters markets here in the UK I thought I'd give it a go so I bought it

From these lovely people at Bikkel en Been http://www.bikkelenbeen.com/nl/home/

Tons of them turn up in digs from 9th-10thC onwards

and I've always seen them called apple corers but here's the thing, after buying one I and trying it out on apples and pears (Yes it does work pretty well) a thought hit me, in 20 odd years of doing historical cooking from muddyevil right up to WWII ration book stuff I can count the number of recipes that only call for coring an apple, rather than coring and chopping which can be done easily with a knife, on the fingers of both hands!

I think they may be fids, they just get called corers coz they look like 20thC corers....some may actually be corers but I think the majority would be for rope or straw rope work, compare them to modern Swedish fids

Or Skep (Old school beehives) making tools

When the tip wears away or they get to blunt to work with they get binned or the material is so plentiful that y'ent worried if you loose it and a new one is made out of the left-overs of todays dinner, roast leg o'mutton.

Just a theory, pro'ly the ramblings of a diseased mind as usual, but I thought I'd bung it out there see what you lot thought and see if any of the rope workers out there fancies knocking one up and giving it a whirl?

Time to up the meds again methinks...........

Edited September 21, 2011 by Grymm

[Brit.Privateer]

I'm not sure about those corers being fids, but that site is a really good link. He at least makes a few items that I may be interested in.

[adam cyphers]

ive just finished a horn fid and a couple tallow horns.if anyone wants to see ill have to email you pics.

[willie wobble]

the picture with the 13 corers, what critter did they come from? is that Deer leg bone or turkey leg ?

[Grymm]

They are almost always mutton bones, sheep femur.

[callenish gunner]

I have an antler fid made from Scottish Red Stag ...antler would be much more stable for fids than horn since horn can flake or scale

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

I have an antler fid made from Scottish Red Stag ...antler would be much more stable for fids than horn since horn can flake or scale

That was my thought as well. Horn tends to swell and flake in wet/damp conditions. The horn containers can be sealed with wax, but the fids would wear it off I would think. I have some bone and some antler needles that are very old and still serviceable.

bo

[adam cyphers]

in my experience my horn tools that i have made always get a hot coating of the linseed oil,pine tar,beeswax,turpentine,tallow mix that i use on basically everything.and they do just fine.OTOH i like antler tools as well.

[wes1761]

I have a few chunks of antler in the basement that might work for you, depending on the size you need....PM me if you want them...

[Cascabel]

When I used to make stuff out of horn, it seems I remember goat horn having much less of a hollow section than cow horn. I used goat horn when I needed solid sections. Might be what you need for making fids......

>>>> Cascabel