Brown Powder Horn

[ronnie_kennedy]

I have just recieved my powder horn in the mail. The description said it was antiqued, but when i got it, it is actually a brown color. Not antiqued brown, but just plain brown! Anyways, i would like to scrimshaw it, as i think the color is still somewhat nice. Has anyone scrimshawed a brown one before? I know with white horns the scrim is usually set with a black dye, and on black horns the scrim turns white. On my brown one it is more of a grey color when dry, but turns black when i wet it. Does anyone have any ideas on what to put on my work to make it stand out more against the brown horn?

 

[gus13]

do you have a pic? if its an applied aging then you could very well scratch that off, so you gotta careful with that. if its actually an antique horn why would you want to scrim it?! :wink:

 

[omarick1948]

A picture is worth a thousand words, so if you can post a photo of the horn, some of us may be able to help!

As far as engraving on a brown horn. Your pretty well stuck with what you have, as any engraving probably will not show-up very sharp due to no contrast in colors!

My advice, the next time you order a horn. Order a white or lighter colored horn for engraving!

Rick

 

[hawkeye2]

Consider using red or green.

 

[ronnie_kennedy]

It is not an antiqued horn, it is just supposed to have an antiqued look to it. Didn't think ahead when i ordered it or i would have gotten a nice light colored one. I didn't plan on scrimshawing it, until i saw all the nice horns everyone on here were making and it just clicked. Oh well, you live and you learn Still trying to figure out how to post pics on the forum?!?!?!

 

[gus13]

photobucket if you have it. Its free and then just use the IMG code...

And as far as the Antiqueing is concerned you have to remember that it really is more of an art than a science, and the colors used can range anywhere between yellow to black, and any combination in between, really! so an "antiqued" horn being brown isn't neccesarily wrong, its just what the maker thought woould look the best :idunno: just a thought...

 

[ronnie_kennedy]

Here is a couple pics of the powder horn and also a shot of the vine pattern scrim i tried to do on the top section. It is my first time ever carving horn, but i think it came out somewhat ok. I like the color of the horn, but i sure do like the look of a scrimshawed one. So if it is not going to be possible to make my work stand out on this horn, i don't want to do anything too elaborate on this one, and maybe just order a better horn to scrimshaw on. I might just use this one for practice.

 

[gus13]

regular black (India Ink etc.) might work for that, it won't be as prominent as on a white horn but should still show pretty good.

 

[hanshi]

I bought one of those a while back and for the price you can afford to experiment. Still, mine is a nice, well fitted horn as yours appears to be.

 

[ronnie_kennedy]

I have decided to go ahead and scrim this horn instead of getting a new one....for now anyways :wink: Here is a pic of how it is going so far. Going to put a compass rose on it. This is the early stages of scrimming. Will post more as it progresses.

 

[ronnie_kennedy]

I didn't feel comfortable shaping my 1st horn so i bought a precut one. However, i have done the scrimshaw completely by hand with a small exacto knife and a small picture nail placed in a small rod. Still have more to scribe including my name and also to "blacken" the work. I am trying to decide on a nice font to put my name in.

This is the horn originally

Small vine detail around plug to get accustomed to scrimshaw

Beginning of the compass rose design

Compass rose done....might add some directional indicators in the circle, or i may darken the whole circle and rework the edge to even it up a little. It is harder to do a circle on a curved horn than it looks.

Any suggestions on the type of font for lettering? Also what media do you think will darken the work the best and show up better on this color horn? I am also thinking of reworking the decorative carvings near the powder spout. Maybe making the lines more round instead of at an angle and possible taking the squared off sections off. Maybe dyeing the bottom section a black color also?

 

[omarick1948]

I suggest, that you might go over to the HORNER'S BENCH website and look for all the answers you are looking to find on building and engraving (not scrim or scrimming) your powder horn.

Think you might enjoy it!

 

[ronnie_kennedy]

please excuse the improper use of verbage or detailing the action of putting my design or engraving my horn. I have not been doing this for years as others (yourself included i'm assuming) have. As the post said, this is my first horn and attempt at scrimshaw, engraving, etc....I will check the site out though. I have been by there, just have not had a chance to take the tour through it.

 

[Curtis Makamson]

You will find the Horner's Bench to be a very informative forum.