No less than 17 operations are required to create an all-natural horn comb, all of which include thousands of precise movements. Sorting, sawing, biscayage, flattening, marking, trimming, shaping, squaring, stadage, smoothing, sharpening, pearl beading, beading and shaping the back of the comb, sanding and polishing, mean that this trade constitutes a highly-developed craft rather than a small industry.