Our Mr.Slusser emailed me this. I thought it was pretty damn cool and helpful for those that work on horns.
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Jonathan
Here's the pics. of my horners jig. As you can see it's NOT a perfect fit by any stretch. I could have made it perfect, but as anyone who ever made powder horns knows; EVERY one has a different shape., so I'd spend days making it fit but it would only work for that ONE horn! You can see that strange piece of wood screw sticking out of the tip, it has a purpose. Once I drill my pour hole in the horn, I can use the screw stub to support the pour end of my horn for working the tip. You still need to hold the large end, but it gives you a stable platform for sanding, AND you can rotate the horn while working. With my limited finger dexterity, this jig helps a lot. I drilled the screw hole in the wood tip, inserted the screw so 3/4" stuck out.
I've tried EVERY way of working horns without this jig, but the jig works best. I predrilled the screw hole just to make sure that the screw would go in once I ground the head away? I removed the screw, and ground the outside diameter of the head down to the shaft size of the wood screw. Leaving the Screw Slot in the shaft gave me something that I could still get the screwdriver into to screw it back into the wooden jig. I suppose a person could drill the hole and glue in a piece of wooden dowel to get the same results. I use a 3/16" diameter wood screw ( not sure of the number, maybe 8 or 10?) and drill a 9/32" pour hole. the pour hole can be enlarged once the horn is sanded.
I normally drill it again to 1/4" for my plug. If you drill the 1/4" finished size hole first and then you chip the hole or wear it while sticking the horn over the stub, then you have to drill it again and the hole might be too big to work well for pouring, or NOT seal properly? ALWAYS start smaller, you can remove more horn by drilling, but it's almost impossible to put it back!
I don't know if this will work for you? I know it's really crude from a design standpoint, but it's a life saver for me! I hope this helps you and anybody else who sees it? If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.
-----
Jonathan
Here's the pics. of my horners jig. As you can see it's NOT a perfect fit by any stretch. I could have made it perfect, but as anyone who ever made powder horns knows; EVERY one has a different shape., so I'd spend days making it fit but it would only work for that ONE horn! You can see that strange piece of wood screw sticking out of the tip, it has a purpose. Once I drill my pour hole in the horn, I can use the screw stub to support the pour end of my horn for working the tip. You still need to hold the large end, but it gives you a stable platform for sanding, AND you can rotate the horn while working. With my limited finger dexterity, this jig helps a lot. I drilled the screw hole in the wood tip, inserted the screw so 3/4" stuck out.
I've tried EVERY way of working horns without this jig, but the jig works best. I predrilled the screw hole just to make sure that the screw would go in once I ground the head away? I removed the screw, and ground the outside diameter of the head down to the shaft size of the wood screw. Leaving the Screw Slot in the shaft gave me something that I could still get the screwdriver into to screw it back into the wooden jig. I suppose a person could drill the hole and glue in a piece of wooden dowel to get the same results. I use a 3/16" diameter wood screw ( not sure of the number, maybe 8 or 10?) and drill a 9/32" pour hole. the pour hole can be enlarged once the horn is sanded.
I normally drill it again to 1/4" for my plug. If you drill the 1/4" finished size hole first and then you chip the hole or wear it while sticking the horn over the stub, then you have to drill it again and the hole might be too big to work well for pouring, or NOT seal properly? ALWAYS start smaller, you can remove more horn by drilling, but it's almost impossible to put it back!
I don't know if this will work for you? I know it's really crude from a design standpoint, but it's a life saver for me! I hope this helps you and anybody else who sees it? If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.