YUNBEN · Horn
Only the middle of the horn is used — the ends crack. One horn yields two or three combs. The process follows the traditional horn-comb sequence: blanking, steaming, pressing, cutting teeth, filing teeth, polishing, waxing. Tooth cutting and filing are entirely by hand. A machine cut leaves 0.3 mm variance and blunt tips; hand cutting means checking every tooth, with the last pass judged by running a fingertip across the tips.