Powder Horn, fun project ( I think)

[Muley Hunter]

Excellent!

 

[Two Feathers]

Just about finished!!  End cap is pine stained with Laurel Mountain Forge - Nut Brown and a dab of liquid Ritz dye to add a little black color. Joe
GREAT JOB!!!!! Can't wait to see it with a strap and all rarin' to go.
Stoney

 

[mark/wi]

It looks very good. Mark

 

[JLBSparks]

I cheated on mine. I used a DA and 80 grit to get it smooth, then progressed to 320.Wet sanded 400 and 600, and buffed. I thought it looked pretty good about 30 years ago.

   -Joe

 

[Roaddog]

Joe that horn looks like ya ben doing it for years.Now make a blowing horn with the other one.
Renasonce wax is good for a seeler.

Roaddog

 

[Smokin' Joe]

Thanks guys!

Joe, I would cheat on my next one too!  Although I would finish it by scraping to get the look of old I would do all the hard work of getting the scale off similar to your method.   The strap lobes made it harder to fit the end cap because I didn't have a forming cone. The horn is so thick that boiling it in water never really softened it anyway. Not enough heat, but it worked out.

 

[exMember]

Joe, how bad was it fitting the plug at the back of the horn?

 

[Smokin' Joe]

Actually it was fairly easy.  The horn was nearly round to start with.  I measure the circumference and it was about 2 -13/16".  I took a compass and put the circle on the pine block.  Went to my 12" disc sander, angled the table down slightly which coned the cap.  I sanded, checked the fit. When the cap would fit in the horn a good 3/4's of the way in.  I then put the butt end of the horn in boiling water but it never did get pliable, not hot enough.  I got tired of waiting and finally removed it, while still hot, smeared some Titebond Wood glue to the inside of the horn and the out side edge of the cap.  I put a piece of cardboard on top of the cap to protect it and tapped it in place with a rubber mallet.  Almost forgot....I preyed a little that I would NOT break the cap in two from tapping with the hammer. :^)

1. I should of used cooking oil or heat gun to heat the horn to get it a little pliable
2. A forming cone would of made the horn perfectly round when it cooled.  Easier to fit the cap.

But like I said in my previous post,  "it worked out just fine".

 

[strong eagle]

this is how i do powder horns for what it is worth. sand smooth up 1500 grit. glue a hard wood plug in the big end. file and sand flat. drill the bottom end to fit the kind of plug you want. to get a good finish stain with leather dye as you would a good piece of wood. wash excess off and dry. spray light coats of a clear car top coat acrilic. dry good and polish with HUTS plastic polish. thats one way to do it. works good for me.

 

[Smokin' Joe]

Thanks Strong Eagle but I didn't want it looking quite that pretty.  I wanted it to look like it has been used for awhile.  I don't want everyone to know that I'm a "tenderfoot" at this.  

Strap came in today so here is the finished horm:

 

[Two Feathers]

Joe
 GREAT job.... FANTASTIC!!! Did you pray a lot when you were drilling the pour spout hole? I seem to Vent the horn a lot when I make them while drilling that hole. I found a way to fix that issue if I do it by accident, but I'd rather NOT vent the horn if I can help it. GREAT job again buddy. I knew you could do it .
Stoney

 

[Smokin' Joe]

Thanks for the confidence! 

I paid a lot of attention to the angle I was drilling on the pour spout.  I started out with a small bit and went up one size at a time. The pour spout "plug" is actually tapered.  So I used the tang end of a file last to gently taper the hole.

 

[Two Feathers]

Joe
 I used to be a custom Guitar builder so I bought a crap load of extra long drill bits over the years for running pickup wires through the bodies. They've come in very handy in Horn and knife handle making, but I still screw up every now and again with the pour spout holes.
GREAT job. I hope to see more in the future.
Stoney

 

[exMember]

drilled through the side of my horn today. 3 1/2" + of solid horn and the wrong angle.

 

[Two Feathers]

Frontier Gander
 I'll tell you how to correct that, if you're interested?
Stoney

 

[exMember]

I trashed it already. Making one out of a pronghorn antelope horn instead!!

 

[RhinoDave]

Don't throw it away Jon. Cut it off and make a cup out of it.