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Horn Ageing

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Steve Boyleston

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i don't have Sibley's book on horns. If any of you have it I would like to know what the stuff is he reccomneds to apply the ageing with. Gives the real old look. Thanks The Great Pinyone
 
Dark walnut oil based stain and powdered black tempura paint. You need the horn hot, either just out of the RIT dye (if'n you're using that) or heat it up with a hot air gun. Dip the hot horn into the stain and selectively wipe off with a rag. Sprinkle the powdered paint on the horn in the places you want to look grungy. You can work this until the stain dries. Takes some experimenting, but it's fun.

Scott
 
Can I assume you are wanting to know how to "Yellow" a new horn to look old?

The Sibley's post 3 methods to do this:

1. Use Aquafortis, a diluted nitric acid and iron compound, and apply it to the horn. Then use a heat gun to warm the surface until it turns golden.

2. Use Onion skins and apple vinegar , mixed with water. Put mixture in water and heat to a boil. Turn down the heat and put the horn into the mix, checking the color until you get what you desire.

3. Use Golden Yellow RIT dye- 2 boxes and enough water in a turkey cooker to cover the horn. Boil. Try this first with a junk horn, to check the color. He says he likes to put a "Pinch" of orange dye in the brew to get a darker yellow color. He also puts the base plug into the horn before dyeing it. He sometimes paints the base plug before dunking the horn in the mix, and the hot dye bath will cause the paint to lift, giving the plug an antique look.

To Add false Patina, after the horn is scrimshawed, apply dark stain- he mentions powdered tempura paint-- to the horn and rub in . He also suggests walnut stain- oil based, to darken the horn. If you want the horn to seem used and beat up, it should be distressed, with scratches, nicks, etc, before applying the " patina". Rub as much or as little of these stains on as you want. He does not use India Ink to highlight the scrimshaw if he is "antiquing" the horn and adding patina. Either the black tempura dye powder, or the walnut oil stain will darken the scrimshaw enough to be easily seen through the "Patina".

I hope that helps.

Personally, Unless the maker clearly marks his horn with name and date( in several places, both inside and outside the horn), this kind of thing is likely to defraud some unknowing buyer in years to come, thinking they are paying for a hundred-years old horn, when it in fact was recently made. I don't like the practice, unless the safeguards are followed. It takes a very experienced and knowledgeable horn builder to determine the age of any horn, short of very expensive and sophisticated scientific testing, which most people can't afford, and have no idea where they can get it done.
 
It sounds like a process that you really need practice at. I have used oli stains for 40 years in the Painting Industry but the took forever to dry and would rub off real easy. I almost think you can add a Japan dryer to the stain to speed up the process. i have a horn that is ready to finish so I will give it a shot. sounds like some of you have done this before, thanks The Great Pinyone
 
I have Sibley's book and used a modified process derived from him. I dyed the horn in Rit die by submerging it in a bath of the brown and a pinch of black dye, as he suggests. After getting the color I wanted, I waited a couple of days, instead of immediately performing the "grunging" as his book says. I took a little of the oil based walnut dye, mixed it with some of the powder and made a hot slurry. I then wiped that on the hot horn (using a heat gun), working to get the ageing I wanted and by dusting with the powder as he suggested. This was my first try, it wasn't that hard and worked very well.
:v
 
After the horn is dry apply a couple coats of a low luster pate wax and it should last for a good while before you see any rubbing off of the surface treatment
 
Here are two horns that I've made showing different antiquing finishes. The dark horn below was RIT dyed and then a dark walnut stain applied over the dye and lightly powdered with tempera paint and wiped down before paste waxing.
DarkAgedCarvedPowderHorn1730Styling.jpg


This horn was just RIT dyed and a Walnut stain applied with no tempura powder added. NOTE: The engraving looks darker than it really is from the camera exposure.

IMG_0451.jpg


I hope these photo's helped!

Rick
 
Hello Rick- the first horn is the look I want to get, what color of Rit Dye? And man your second horn is absolutely beautiful must have taken forever to make that, I wouldn't let any boby pick it up. How long have you been making horns? To me this is the fun part of the Forum as we all know the people who are published and then work like this surfaces and you are blown away-The Great Pinyone
 
The top horn was colored with Rit dye using Sunshine Yellow, a bit of Dark Brown and a pinch of red. I generally don't measure color batches exactly and go with what the color needs to acheive the color I'm wanting. I make my dyes in large batches and store in old plastic bleach bottles. Start with the Yellow and add the brown a little at a time and then the other colors slowly, then test with scrap horn piece's till I get the color I want. After dying, I then cover horn with dark walnut wood stain and wipe off after about 15 minutes and let dry overnight before final waxing. Depending on how old or destressed I want the horn to look determines how much walnut stain and other coloration I do for the finished powder horn.

I've been making horns since about 1975 and don't bother to note how many hours I put in a horn, but the bottom horn probably took me roughly 30 +/- hours to complete.

Thanks for the nice comments,
Rick
 
Thanks Rick- a question if you scrimshaw the horn do you darken that part before the dyes? I think you put some pictures but they didn't post- I sure would like to see some- thanks again Steve
 

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