Releasing Hotns From Tough Glue

It looks like it might be epoxy. The wood backing appears to be embedded in it. Likely the same was used to secure the horn sheaths to the bone cores. Not much that I know of that will free them. I assume you want to take the horn sheaths off to work on them? If so it just might be easier in the long run to work on them as they are now, since removing them could cause more damage plus some added frustrations.

 

Ok if they were in fact naturally adhered to the horn cores(bone) they could take some time to macerate or “rot” them free. Idea being to bag them tight with water and warmth creating an optimal environment for bacteria to multiply and break down the connective tissues between the sheath and bone. Once rotted sufficiently one can rap them with a mallet or a similar jarring force to loosen them. This might take two or more weeks and it will stink but eventually they will loosen. You can speed things up by making channels between bone and sheath with blades or something similar allowing moisture to penetrate up. Holes drilled carefully from the inside of skull up into the bone cores can also bring more water where you want it. Use black plastic bags which absorb more heat and put them in the sunshine. Good luck.

 

No it will not if they are glued on. I don’t know how much of each horn you require for the instrument you want to craft but maybe you can make a thin cut with a dremel cutoff wheel up from horn base to where you can see the bone core ending. Then you will know where you can cut them off shorter leaving the glued bottoms if that still works. Also after making those initial cuts from bottom you might be able to carefully pry the horn sheaths away from bone cores little by little, breaking the glue’s bond as you go. Then after freeing them you can repair cuts with colored epoxy sculpting product like Magic Sculpt or Apoxie Sculpt. You can get them in brown, black and natural then mix them to match horn color. Done right you can hardy tell the repair from real horn.