working your powder horn

[fatboy]

You guys that have been doing horns for awhile do you have any special way to clamp (hold them)your horns while shaping and general working . The carpaltunnel and or tendinitis acts up and I have some horns Id like to finish

 

[paulvallandigham]

Some just just a thick shot bag. Others use posts, and tapered plugs to hold the horns. See:
http://lumberjocks.com/decoustudio/blog/2482

Which is a great blog for both making horns and then learning how to scrimshaw them.

and

Scott and Cathy Sibley's book, ",Recreating the 18th Century Powder Horn". available exclusively from Track of the Wolf. Between the two you should be able to learn just about everything you can except by doing a horn. :grin: :thumbsup:

 

[omarick1948]

After 35 plus years of horning, being almost 61 years old and having all of the same ailments you do plus arthritis in my hands. I grab my ADVIL and clamp a one and a fourth 6" section of wood dowel in my 6" bench vise and slip an old heavy piece of leather over the top of the dowel! Leather protects horn and stops slipping! Lean the horn against the vised dowel top and cut,file or sand away! If my hands get sore! It's because I'm gripping the horn to tight! You shouldn't have to grip tight..just hold it against the dowel! This method should give you TOTAL CONTROL and less hurting hands! The heigth of your work bench and vise also is a big factor of importance! I sit on a high swivel padded shop stool with both feet on the floor and have the horn about waist high. Get comfortable and relax as you work on your horns. This suppose to be fun! Anyway, it works for me!

Rick

 

[fatboy]

Thanks for the help & ideas I did try using a tomahawk handle but using a pc of leather over top of it may just the right thing

 

[AeroncaTAL]

I devised a simple clamp using some Harbor Freight wood clamps. Notched out the smaller one, laid in some pipe insulation then wrapped with duct tape. A shot bag holds the whole affair to my table. I use this clamp to hold the horn while sanding. The aforementioned shot bag serves as a good rest for shaping and carving.
Scott

 

[omarick1948]

Maybe someone here knows something about an article that was in an old issue of MUZZLE BLASTS or THE BUCKSKIN REPORT magazines years ago about making a horn vise? I started looking through my old issue's, but for the life of me, can't find the artical about a Horner....then called Hornsmith, that made a strap and foot tention contraption for holding a horn and leaving both hands free! Any of you older guys remember anything about it?

I was always going to try making one, but never got around to gitting it done and now, I guess I'm SOL!! :cursing:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Sounds like a variation on a leather stitcher's vise. You use a leather strap- as wide as you want to hold the horn, and attach one end to the pedal. The other end is put through a slot( visualize the slot in the stock of an M-1 carbine for the sling) in the wooden post, or " anvil", which has either a "V" notch in the top, or a shallow " U " notch to help hold the horn. Often you see the strap fixed at the top end with nails, or screws, on the Right side of the anvil, then a loop is formed and the other end goes from right to left through the neck of the anvil in that slot, coming out the left side, as you sit and face the anvil, then down to the foot pedal which is under the left foot. The wider the diameter the horn, the higher the pedal is in relation to your foot. The loop has to be fixed to the top of the anvil in some way, to maintain the loop, and keep the horn centered in the cup or V. I saw one once- only once- where a mortise was cut out at the center of the cup at the top fo the anvil, on a 45 degree angle to the left side of the wooden anvil, so that the strap made a loop at the top to hold the horn, and the strap easily extended down to the foot pedal. The owner had used beeswax to lube the shaft of the mortise to make the leather move more easily in the slot. The wooden anvil( Post) was a 4" x 4", and the mortise was only 1" by 1/4". He was using a " Retired" piece of belt.

If the belt or strap is too short, use rope or cordage to extend or adjust it for length. Or splice, sew and glue another piece of leather if you want to go to that much bother.

These Horn vises were affixed to a bench commonly seen with shaving horses, only the length of the bench was much shorter.

 

[fatboy]

Thats a good idea with the wood clamp you could just use one and clamp that in your work bench vise. Paulval I like that idea too

 

[soggy]

This is very similar to what Horner75 has described. 'cept I'm a cheap bugger so I used a piece of broom stick and instead of leather I used a piece of rubber gasket material that I had laying around out in my shop. Just cut the bottom 2"-3" of the broom stick square so it's easier to hold in the vise. I've used this set up for the last 8-10 years and it works great for me. That particular horn wound up in the hands of R/C :grin:

 

[omarick1948]

Soggy, That's the way I do it to a "T", but the Mother-in-law was out riding around that day, so I had to use a dowel instead of a piece of broom stick!
Rick

 

[soggy]

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: .........hope your mother-in-law doesn't read this thread......... :slap:

 

[fatboy]

I better go and get my mother in laws broom quick !!