Horn wrights

[mudd turtle]

I have heard that horn wrights in England turned cow horns on a lathe-spring pole ? I have searched for information on how to turn bone and horn but haven't had any luck yet finding what I need to know. I know you can turn a base plug for a powder horn but don't understand the pocess on how they turned things from bone or cow horn. Can any of you tell me where I can learn something about how this was done back in the day.Thanks for your time. Mudd Turtle.

 

[musketman]

Not much out there, however I did manage to find this...

Antlers on a lathe

History of the lathe

 

[mudd turtle]

Musketman: Thank you for your help on lathe tuning . I will have to keep looking for information on this subject. Thanks again Mudd Turtle.

 

[Brasilikilt]

Hey Mudd

I've given a lot of thought to this subject as well, including how to build primitive spring/bow/treadle lathes to do the turning.

In most cases I've seen such as the screw tip and Southern banded horns the turnings are of separate pieces and are then glued and pinned onto the horn.
There are some horns which appear to have turned tips, but don't look like it's a separate piece of horn attached........how the heck would you turn a whole cow horn!?!?!?! It doesn't make sense to me.

As for turning antler and cow horn, it's not drastically different than wood. Yes it is harder, Yes it does smell bad, but my advice is to get some practice pieces and start turning.
That's the best way to get closer to figuring out how they did things back then.

If you find anything interesting out, please let me know because as a horn builder, this is a topic I'm very interested in.

Take care and good luck

Iain

 

[bob1961]

i have the magazine of the man that turns elk antler on a lathe....the same picture of the bowl he turned too....good magazine artical bout how to turn antler..............bob

 

[Harddog]

There are a couple of different ways to actually turn a horn on a lathe. You will need to make sure that your lathe has enough space between the lathe bed or the carriage and the turning horn so the horn does not hit anything. A large wood lathe with a lot of swing is ideal for this.

Cut the small end of the horn off where you want it and then drill and tap the hole. leave the tap in the tapped hole and mount the shank of the tap in the lathe chuck jaws and then you can turn the spout end of the horn. Usuallly at least a 1/2" tap is used for this and then an antler or different colored horn tip is applied later.

For turning the butt end, make a round taped plug that you will use to make the butt end of the horn round. (I believe some people remove the tapered plug and wrap some wet leather around the plug and force the plug into the horn again.) clamp the wooden plug into the chuck jaws and proceed to do any lathe work to the large end of the horn. Usually any lathe work on the large end of the horn is minimal. Such as cutting the end of the horn square with the body of the horn and maybe adding a couple of incised lines around the horn.

 

[crockett]

I spoke to Roland Cadle a while ago and he said there were horn smiths that turned out powder horn tips on the screw tip designs- using lathes. I don't think it was that hard but as far as the spring pole- don't know, could have been water powered.
One of the buckskinning books has an article on the subject. They may have drilled and tapped one end and mounted that on a lathe and turned it sald bowl style( supported on only one end).

 

[mudd turtle]

Brasilikilt_Thanks for your responce to my post.I have a jet Mini lathe and have thought about trying my hand at turning a horn tip but I need to find more information on the subject. Thanks again Mudd Turtle.

 

[crockett]

Roland Cadle is "THE GUY". Muzzleloader had an article on him a while back(within the year). He is in Western Pennsylvania( VILLAGE REPRODUCTIONS) and if you email him, write, etc about what you want to know, I am sure he will help you out.
He told me that there were horners that did nothing else but make powder horns. The tips were turned to create a fast, attractive type horn. He told me a little about the set up but I wasn't that knowledable about the subject and a lot escaped me.