Source for a blond buffalo horn rolls found.

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Matus

Matus

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Hello everyone,

I have first run this by admins and got a green light to post it on KKF, so here it goes.

There is a source of blond buffalo horn rolls available from India. I got a tip from Aton that a Instagram member Mohammad Raashid (IG name quraishiraashid) offers products made from water buffalo horns (mostly directed at eyewear) including buffalo horn rolls. He works for the company http://new-agrotech-india.in but all the communication and sales took place via IG.

I have made one order of 25 (got 28) pieces that are 100 mm long and 30 mm in diameter. I have shared some of them with Robin Dalmann and Dave Martell. Robin already used all the rolls he got from me and gave me positive feedback. Neither Dave not me had time yet to use the rolls. Even though the seller does come across a bit 'pushing' (for the next order), but the communication with him was (and is) exemplary - answering questions within hour irrespective of the daytime. The rolls were shipped with FedEx right after I payed with PayPal. All 100% right and no delay. The rolls might have been packed a little more safely but other than that it all went smooth.

Some (about 30 - 40 %) rolls are not without small local defects (look like hairline fractures) to be seen on the end of the rolls, but both Anton and Robin told me that this is normal on this kind of product.

I am in a contact with the seller and was offered rolls with 35 mm diameter and 100 mm length for $10 per piece + shipping. The shipping (since it is FedEx) is expensive at around $100 (plus the minimal order I could take was 25). My understanding is that the seller has a 'sufficient' supply that this forum is not going to deplete :)

On one hand only a pro maker would be interested in 25 or more rolls, on the other hand it would make sense to order more to make the shipping cost per roll more reasonable. What I could foresee is a group buy (from US and maybe also in EU if there is enough interest), but I would leave that to whoever would be interested to initiate. You can simply contact the seller via IG.

If a sale should happen I would recommend to first request a few photos and agree exactly on what kind of colour or grain of the rolls are to be delivered.

Important: Please do note that I am only passing the information, I have no monetary interest advertising a sale here.

Here are a few photos of the rolls I have received. The last photos is one I have received from the seller recently as an example what kind of rolls he has in stock.






Now a few details of the defects I have mentioned. These are the 'worst offenders' from the lot:








This is a photo I was provided recently by the seller:

 
Well you already know that I'm in. :doublethumbsup:


For those of you thinking this over I can attest to this being top quality. Sure there's imperfections but it's always the case with buffalo horn, especially that of the blond/streaked type. The key thing here is the amount of variety and quantity that's supplied, this is very uncommon.

I prefer the larger 35mm diameter rolls and they're not easy to come by.
 
How many wa ferules can you get out of 1? 3 or should I count on 2?

Is be in for 3 or 4 in a group buy.
 
More importantly, what do they smell like when you grind them? What about when you overheat them while grinding? And what do they taste like? :running:
 
I'm not a pro craftsman by any means, but I plan to have Isaiah Schroeder re-handle my Genkai Masakuni so I'd definitely be interested in purchasing a piece of two for further projects. Count me in.
 
I recently used one of the rolls from this distributor. Good stuff.
-Trey
 
Smells like you're pushing teeth and fingernails into a ceramic belt 😂😂. They burn very easy.
 
Somehow my long response did not make it, so here is the short version:

- These are excellent prices, even if some pieces are not useable and shipping is high.
- For really large orders, please make sure you use a payment method that lets you dispute payments (based on getting severely burnt by an Indian seller who only accepted bank transfers...)
- FWIW, I usually cut my ferrule pieces to a bit over 30mm length, so each flawless roll should net 3 ferrules if cut on a band saw.
- I really don’t NEED any more horn, but if anybody takes the lead on this, I would want a few of the striked pieces which I find more interesting than the uniformly creamy ones.

Stefan
 
Just to clarify one thing. If there is enough interest within a certain area (continent), than someone local from that area should organise a group buy. I am located in Germany, so it would make no sense for me to make a group buy for our US or AU friends. I have no special relationship with the seller anyhow.

If there is enought interest from within EU (I would say at least 50 rolls) then I can help, but it would still make more sense to have the rolls delivered to an EU country that is a little more lax on the VAT/duties (e.g. Netherlands).
 
OK so which of you USA guys is going to head up our group buy? Notice I said, "you"? :D
 
I've already picked up 25. Smaller just for ferrule. 30mm long 25mm diameter for 160 all in including shipping. For $6.50 per horn I figured I could afford to make a few mistakes while trying to learn how to make handles.

IMG_20180125_194840_127.jpg

And yes his communication is excellent and he is aggressive at trying to drum up more business.
 
Thanks for the insight & reviews. Mohammad also reached out to me via Instagram and I placed an order for a mix of the larger & smaller rolls (as TheCaptain pictured). Has anyone forwarded this contact to the Japanese market? I'm certain all of Sakai would be pleased.

If there's enough interest generated, I would organize a group buy for Canada (and maybe the US). I'd need confirmed interested with numbers.
 
U.S. participants please chime in and let me know what all we want. As a collective, do we want to get the longer rolls? or the convenient shorter ones?
 
I'd be in for $50-75 for whatever most people want for a U.S. group buy. I would tend to lean toward the longer rolls and a mix of blond and marbled.
 
O would just recommend to go with 35 mm diameter enough even for the largest handles and leaves a little more room for corrections.
 
Long ones it is. If everyone is okay with me doing the buy I can make it happen, for US folks. Since they seem to be $10 a roll Dwalker I can put you down for 5 rolls. I figured what we would do is everybody take a count for how many they’d like, $10 each. Then split shipping costs from the source by how many participants we have. Then I can just usps small box priority ship them to you all at $6 bucks or whatever it is.
 
I would be in for about a $100 bucks. Size doesn't matter, variety of colors would be nice
 
Guys I have not problem with organising the group buy right here - but starting a separate thread with a clear name would give you better exposure I think.
 
You’re right matus. Thanks for the wisdom, and tracking down the blonde horn source. I’ll start another thread later in the evening with details for a US buy. Meet you all over in the next thread!
 
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