FOREWORD
There are many different types of horn; horns of Bovidae,
rhinoceros, antelope and giraffe, as well as the substance of which the beaks of
birds, and the claws and hooves of many animals, are made. The horn with which
this manual is concerned may be defined as hard, conical, hollow horn, composed
of dead epidermal cells bound together by keratin, which covers the excrescence
of the frontal bones that are called "horn cores". This type of horn is found in
a species of cattle that is common in Asia and Africa, the zebu. The term "horn"
will be used in this manual to denote both hollow horn and its constituent
material.
Before the advent of plastics, prosperous artisans throughout
the world for centuries produced useful or decorative objects in horn: combs,
handles for knives and tools, door handles, sheaths for whetstones, horns for
blowing, buttons, stylised animals and plants, rings, bracelets, etc. However,
plastics have rapidly replaced horn, and horn processing is in jeopardy.
The compression, injection and extrusion of plastics requires
machinery and complex moulds and dies that have to be imported, are expensive to
buy and to maintain, and are heavy consumers of energy. Being automated, and
hence with a high level of productivity, these processes also cause
unemployment. The regulation and operation of this machinery entails the
services of qualified electrical engineers, which is a form of specialisation
rarely found in developing countries. Horn, on the other hand, can be worked by
hand with simple tools such as saws, scissors, gouges and hand drills which, for
the most part, can be produced by local artisans. The work can be made much more
efficient by the use of small electrically powered tools such as jigsaws,
drills, sanders, woodworking lathes, and small grinding wheels which, even if
imported, are of low cost and consume little energy.
In some developing countries, plastics are imported at great
expense, while horn is a raw material that is cheap and abundant in the
countries themselves. In Madagascar, for example, the current price for horn
attached to the core is 10 to 11 Malagasy francs per kilo. Obviously horn could
not replace all plastic materials but it could easily be used as a substitute
for plastics to make a number of small objects that are not subject to great
physical stress.
In certain countries, artisans continue to make objects in horn,
mainly for the tourist trade. Some of these objects are technically and
artistically of high quality. In the majority of countries, however, a
great deal of horn is still left relatively unprocessed. In the next few
years, it will undoubtedly be in the interest of the developing countries to
give preference to horn rather than to plastic materials whenever this is
possible. This possibility will entail the development of horn processing, and
consequently the training of new artisans. To encourage and complete the
training of these artisans, it would be useful for each one to have a manual
where all the techniques of horn working are described. This is the purpose of
this publication.
We have chosen the terra "homer" to denote an artisan who makes
objects in horn. This term, which is to be found in English dictionaries, has
fallen into disuse. It would seem appropriate to revive it in this English
version of the manual.
A.S. Bhalla,
Chief,
Technology and Employment
Branch
