Latest horn project

Here's a horn I got at the DayLilly Wine Festival this summer. There was a company there that uses horns as organic mulch after burying them in the ground and letting them decompose. He had this horn on his table and I asked what he wanted for it. He said they "usually sell them for $15.00" and I said that was too much for what I wanted to give to try to make a powder horn. He thought a minute and tossed it to me, telling me I could have it. He said they get barrels of horns every day to bury. I told him I'd like to visit and pick through their horns. He invited me down and said "anytime", but they would charge me. Now I have to find that brochure. If I could get a dozen good horns, it would be worth the visit. We'll see. Here is the horn in process so far. My wife gave me an old Asparagus cooker for the shop. Thanks for looking.

Ron

Your project is coming along real nice, Ron. :hatsoff: Looks like a dandy.

snagg

What happened to the pictures.........all I can see are litte red X's?

looks like a great start. they compost horns?! oh! the humanity...

Free horns. Man you are a lucky dog. I could get free horns, but by the time I wrestle the cow, cut the horns, and try to get away in the dark with out gettin shot.......And you got it looking good already. Hope you keep the progress posted.

soggy said:

What happened to the pictures.........all I can see are litte red X's?

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OK I can see it now .............looking good! :thumbsup:

I got a question. Never made a horn but have been interested in stariting one. What is the purpose of boiling?

rancher said:

I got a question. Never made a horn but have been interested in stariting one. What is the purpose of boiling?

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By the looks of it, with the spout end already drilled. He is probably softening the large end to shape it round. This is one way to do it!

rancher said:

I got a question. Never made a horn but have been interested in stariting one. What is the purpose of boiling?

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rancher,

As horner75 noted ... it is to soften the horn so I could use a shaping plug to round the butt end. I've made horns shaping the wood to the horn, but on some, I like the more professional look of a round plug. I can turn them on my lathe and get a perfect match of wood and horn that way. You can see I have a walnut plug I turned for this one. The horn is an oval shape to start. Good luck on making your horn. Once you make one, you're hooked. The possibilities are endless.

Ron

That is a beautiful butt plug. I can hardly wait to see the finished horn!
Scott

Here is a continuation of the thread I started a couple days ago. I've defined the area to step down for the throat, filed down to about 1/8th inch depth, just deep enough to remove the white from the throat area and smoothed the throat. Now I'm ready to do the engrailing detail around the separation. I dry fit the walnut plug to get an idea of the look. I was going to stain the throat, but my wife likes the "chocolate" coming through. I will finish the engrailing and shape the spout for the next series. Thanks for looking.

Ron

Wow. It sure has a nice lookin twist to it. you work a lot faster than i do.

That is coming along just great!
Scott

:thumbsup: Nice horn Ricktwin. I noticed you are using masking tape to protect the area where you are stepping down. Good idea. Not trying to steal your thunder or tell you what to do; but I have found that black electrical tape works very well. I use a lot of it through out the building of a horn. It makes it easier to apply lines around the circumfrence when schriminshawing etc. Also it "protects" already finished areas from that unintional "slip" and so on. Comes off easily, leaves no residue and is cheap
Soggy

soggy said:

Not trying to steal your thunder or tell you what to do; but I have found that black electrical tape works very well. Soggy

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Thanks soggy. I use electrical tape a lot too, but I didn't have any within reach when I decided to file this one. I just happened to have a small used roll of masking tape handy, so there it went. I like the tougher electrical tape when carving too.

Ron

ricktwin said:

soggy said:

Not trying to steal your thunder or tell you what to do; but I have found that black electrical tape works very well. Soggy

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Thanks soggy. I use electrical tape a lot too, but I didn't have any within reach when I decided to file this one. I just happened to have a small used roll of masking tape handy, so there it went. I like the tougher electrical tape when carving too.

Ron

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That's what i like about this site. Great tips from everyone. I been using duct tape but i can see that electrical would be much better because it stretches better to the shape of the horn.
Duct tape does give good protection for shakey old hands like mine.
tim

I've used masking tape, electricians tape and duct tape. All work well...
Scott

TRY THIS!

I cut rubber bands out of bicycle tubes in different widths. Then,I will mark a pencil line(s) on the horn where I want to make a cut, where I used to use Duct or Painter's tape. Line-up the pencil mark with one edge of the rubber band and use the thickness of the rubber band as a steady edge guide for your saw blade or files!..If you don't have an old bicycle innertube, just go to a bike shop and they'll probably give you one from their thrash bin!

Saves alot of expense buying tape!

Rick

That's a good idea Rick!
Scott

horner75 said:

TRY THIS!

I cut rubber bands out of bicycle tubes in different widths. Then,I will mark a pencil line(s) on the horn where I want to make a cut, where I used to use Duct or Painter's tape. Line-up the pencil mark with one edge of the rubber band and use the thickness of the rubber band as a steady edge guide for your saw blade or files!..If you don't have an old bicycle innertube, just go to a bike shop and they'll probably give you one from their thrash bin!

Saves alot of expense buying tape!

Rick

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Now that's a great idea...............that's what I like about this forum. No matter what you're doing if you keep an open mind someone will give you a tip on how you can improve it. :hatsoff: