[cobalt]

Some guys working on a buffalo horn crook at the workshop today . He is trying to make a market crook with what we call the nose out .That where the end of the horn turn s outwards and upwards.

It was already shaped , he used a heat gun and jig to bend it

he did put it through the press to flatten the press is something the guy had made himself it uses a 6 ton trolley jack.it is now in the stage of turning its nose up .Bending it with a peice of pipe to force it into shape using a heat gun.

photo1 crook with its nose turned up

no273 Flattening the horn it had already bee shaped NO3&4 the basic shape ready to turn its nose up.no5 A ladys walking stick(walking cane) handle

Also The british stickmaking champion was there working on a goats horn it was a trail piece for him as none of the stickmakers there had used it before, but will leave that for another time

 

[gdenby]

It looks like horn is somewhat difficult to shape, but the results are very appealing.

I don't see horn used much when I've looked over American stick makers work. I've seen deer antler a number of times, but horn, seems to me to be something of an oddity.

As I've looked over the traditional British stick designs, I note that the market stick is not that far removed from a shepherd's leg cleek.

A few days ago, there was a post on a cooking forum I participate in. A poster asked why there were so few recipes for lamb among the American cooks. The fellow provided his own answer. He noted that sheep were raised extensively for their wool, but in America, woolen clothes were not as common as cotton. Thus, little use for sheep either for clothes or meat.

Extending this idea, it seems logical that so many traditional British sticks have a form related to sheep herding, and use a material from the same animal.

 

[cobalt]

The horn is water buffalo horn its easyer to work than rams horn

Your right about the market stick ,traditionally a shepards crook .they used to hook sheep around the neck with it its slightly a larger space in the crook , A leg cleek is for catchingsheep around the leg and isnt as wide as a crook. It is belived that a lot of shepards made these with parrafin lamps which not only gave light but provided heat for the rams horn so they can manipulate it.to fit on there shank

The shepards crook was initally made by hill farmers long before radio ,tv, etc it kept them occupied during the long winter nights whilst in those isolated hills, oftern cut of from the rest of the community.Traditionally a shepard from all over the world carried a staff of one kind or another to protect there flock.But think the crook was a useful tool for them and is mainly british

Mayby it was the resistance by ranches in the west to give grazing to sheep as they thought it would spoil there grazing as there was a lot of resistance to sheep farming so could have historical links?.I belive your right that wool is not as common as cotton today but that started with the industrial advances