Advice needed: hornware- "Decorative use"

Halfdan · Post by **Halfdan** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 5:31 pm

So, I picked up a horn bowl and cup on the cheap. The have stickers that say "decorative use" but nothing specific about them being dangerous. The have a very slick surface which may be uber-polishing, may be a coating of some type. I'd potentially like to use these for feastgear. Advice :?:

talaananthes · Post by **talaananthes** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:55 pm

There are some synthetic coats or varnishes or something (I forget the details now) that may be applied to horn that react very, very badly with alcohol when ingested.

If it's just over-polishing (horn is very easy to polish to a high shine, especially with a mechanical polisher of some sort), then it's fine to eat out of. I use a horn spoon, bowl and a drinking horn all the time, with no finish or seal. Some people like to finish their horn eating implements, though, and beeswax does the trick well while still being safe.