buffalo powderhorn

am in need of a med size bison powder horn in the ruff. I mean ready to use but the outside not finished

Check Dixie Gun Works or TOW.

Tuff one;
Goggle; bison horn for sale; https://www.google.com/search?q=buffalo+horns+for+sale&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=bison+horn+for+sale

Are you looking for a ruff finished Bison powder horn or just a ruff Bison horn? :idunno:

How about a Black horn from cattle,,been told Bison is ruff and hard to work and furs up even after it is worked!! Don't know just worked on cattle horns,,what say ye Horner75??

Buffalo (to me at least) is a different material. More fibrous whereas cow horn is like your finger nail. I've actually boiled buffalo in water and got it to mold into a round plug. On the cow you pretty much need to quickly boil in oil- I haven't had much luck with the water boil on cow horn.
You can polish the buff until it is shiny but then it looks like cheap plastic. I think the old time horners scraped with glass and the glass left a fine line or satin type finish that looks better.
At the time of Daniel Boone there were still buffalo in places like Kentucky so you actually have Long hunter buffalo horns and mountain man buffalo horns- I myself am still trying to figure out what difference exist between the two.

I agree with Crockett ... bison is more fibrous, and is shaped much differently, than cow horn. I have never been able to get either to shape using boiled water: oil is the way to in my experience. Canola oil at 375 degrees in a frydaddy.

Do this outdoors, wear thick leather gloves (a bit too big, so you can snatch them off in a hurry if things go wrong), wear long sleeves and long pants and closed toes shoes and, if you're using open heat (flame or a hot plate) have a fire extinguisher (B- rated) handy. Not to get everyone all paranoid, but it's better to be safe than try to explain all that bad stuff to your insurance adjuster later.

There is something about the shape of a bison horn which not (to my mind, anyway) lend itself to the designs usually associated with eastern style horns made from cows. When you go to finish a bison, you can polish it up all shiny, but this does really make it look like plastic. I think you'd do better to go to about a 400 grit finish and then put on multiple coats of Butcher's Wax (the bowling alley wax, sold in hardware stores -real hardware stores with pressed tin ceilings and creaky floors: it's made by the Butcher family - one can will last a lifetime, unless you own a bowling alley, but I digress...) ... then you will have a beautiful satiny finish which looks great and feels nice in the hand.

cowhorn can (if you're so inclined) go to a high gloss finish. I personally don't care for it, but it's not as though you'd pick up the piece and start looking for the casting marks. Bison just looks dreadful in high gloss.

Additionally, you can scrim and stain cow horn, but bison is plain old black, so you're in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get sort of thing as regards ornamentation. Think Baroque vs. Bauhaus...


there you go: one guy's advice. free and well worth the cost.

Good luck with your project, and do send in photos - we love photos!

Additionally, you can scrim and stain cow horn, but bison is plain old black, so you're in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get sort of thing as regards ornamentation

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Sorry bug not true - not only are there several original engrailed (scrimmed) buffalo powderhorns as well as modern ones made by makers such as Scott Sibley with engrailling. Red is often used as a color along with white.

as for rough horns, try:
Chichester http://www.chichesterinc.com/BuffaloHorn.htm

Moscow Hide and fur http://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/2208.html

and buffalo (bison) horn isn't always naturally completely black - this one had quite a bit of white and I've seen others that have brown/red tints:




again for rough horns try:
Matoska http://www.matoska.com/cgibin/gencat.cgi?AC=gencat&PC=18&ST=0&RS=NULL&S1S2=87,NULL

FWIW - I've bought from all the vendors at times and they are all good folks to deal with.

FYI - horn not antler is all made from keratin just like your finger nails and toe nails. While both cow and buffalo are both made of keratin they are not the same to work as noted above, but they are the same basic material

LaBonte said:

Additionally, you can scrim and stain cow horn, but bison is plain old black, so you're in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get sort of thing as regards ornamentation

Click to expand...

Sorry bug not true - not only are there several original engrailed (scrimmed) buffalo powderhorns as well as modern ones made by makers such as Scott Sibley with engrailling. Red is often used as a color along with white.

as for rough horns, try:
Chichester http://www.chichesterinc.com/BuffaloHorn.htm

Moscow Hide and fur http://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/2208.html

Click to expand...

LaBonte, I checked ... you are correct and I was wrong. color on a bison horn ... hmmm ... gotta try that.

Vomir le Chien said:

How about a Black horn from cattle,,been told Bison is ruff and hard to work and furs up even after it is worked!! Don't know just worked on cattle horns,,what say ye Horner75??

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Jim, I'm not a big fan of Bison horns. I think the best looking Bison horns are the originals and contemporary horns that are nicely finished and plainer in design, but again, that's just my taste.

Rick

Last year I was all set to make my own horn when I came across the work of Dave Foy; bought one of his on the spot.

Nice and simply done and he sells them for well under $100. A Leatherman strap complements it nicely.

No pictures yet, sorry fellas.

If you have the opportunity, it's worthwhile to look at lots of raw horns before buying. There's tremendous variation in size, shape and curve. My favorite is from a mature cow, but that's a nod to my preference for horns from beef. My ideal buffalo cow horn runs a little smaller than the bull and much more slender at the base. I smile when I find one with a curve more like beef, too. Basically I end up with a "buffalo" horn that looks for all the world like a black beef horn.

No pics, but I tried both red and white ink for my engrailing. Didn't like it, so went with plain along the lines of LaBonte's photos.

This must have stuck in my head last night because I dreamed of hunting buffalo.

I am moving from rev. war era to fur trade 1800s. I am looking to make one as it would have been made on the frontier. so no shiny outside just a natural as killed horn.

rj morrison said:

I am moving from rev. war era to fur trade 1800s. I am looking to make one as it would have been made on the frontier. so no shiny outside just a natural as killed horn.

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Use scrapers to finish the outside with, since that's how most field built horns were finished - wind up by rubbing some oil/grease or tallow - I use a mix of bear grease and deer tallow sometimes with beeswax for a bit shinier finish.

Here's some pics of originals:

Simon Girty's horn


Another multi-color buff horn


As for the RMFT era - remember that pro made horns from the east are listed on a trade list, so a cow horn is just as PC/HC for the era.

Hope that helps...

Know what the daddy buffalo said to the son buffalo as he left for school?....bye-son Sorry couldn't resist

:cursing: :cursing: :cursing: :cursing: :cursing:

the gates of Pun Hell swing ever wider for you, my friend!

Chuck- I want to be as pc as possible. I don't like the big brass tacks around the base plug but it looks like they were common. I have had trouble finding any originals.
My issues: (I am trying to figure what was most common)
1. Wood for base plug? Pine? Walnut, etc.
2. Finial or staple in base plug.
3. Means to hold base plug- brass tacks, square nails, etc.
4. Amount of embellishment. I thought on some the front 2/3 towards the base plug was left very plain- overall the overall work much less than on a cow horn carried in the east by a long hunter.
As I said- I'm trying for "average" buffalo powder horn that might have been carried by a mountain man. Thanks for any help/advice.

crockett, here's a plain buff horn which you might like to see, one which would not have been made by a professional or even a very talented do-it-yourselfer. There is only one bit of shaping, a shoulder near the spout to retain the strap. The plug is black walnut, appropriate for an eastern horn, which this is supposed to be. The spout stopper is also walnut, carved as a violin peg type. A large staple attaches the strap to the plug, a simple wrap does it at the spout. There is no carving or decoration except for a crude geometric design around the base, simply scratched in with a sharp. Notice that the horn is white where it is scratched.





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