Building a Powder Horn

[Lucky]

This thread is intended to help folks build or get started building a powder horn. It is a place to share tips and techniques. I have been building them professionally for 10 years now, roughly 600 per year, BUT I am not an expert. Horn building is a journey and not a destination, so I do not have all the answers.

Let's get started!

 

[Wncman]

This thread is intended to help folks build or get started building a powder horn. It is a place to share tips and techniques. I have been building them professionally for 10 years now, roughly 600 per year, BUT I am not an expert. Horn building is a journey and not a destination, so I do not have all the answers.

Let's get started!

I’d like to know more about the Banded Horn making. Are the bands cut from the round way or from strips ?

 

[CuNosecap]

Can't wait Gerry. Following this one closely.
Rick

 

[Lucky]

I’d like to know more about the Banded Horn making. Are the bands cut from the round way or from strips ?

They are cut as slices from a horn, into rings. Then you put them in hot oil to soften them and then put them on a shaping cone. After they cool, you can put the shaping cone on a lather and turn them. When applying them to the horn will will heat them and then slide them on and let them cool. In this phase you have to be careful because if the ring contracts as it cools too far it can crack the horn.

 

[Wncman]

They are cut as slices from a horn, into rings. Then you put them in hot oil to soften them and then put them on a shaping cone. After they cool, you can put the shaping cone on a lather and turn them. When applying them to the horn will will heat them and then slide them on and let them cool. In this phase you have to be careful because if the ring contracts as it cools too far it can crack the horn.

Thanks. No lathe But think I’ll try it.

 

[Salty Cracker]

I appreciate this thread. I look forward to learning about this. Could you post some photos of some horns you have made please. Thank you.

 

[Lucky]

I appreciate this thread. I look forward to learning about this. Could you post some photos of some horns you have made please. Thank you.

 

[CuNosecap]

This is my first horn and my first attempt at scrimshaw, so please be gentle.

My performance is crude and the scrim is cartoonish, but I learned a lot from the process, including a number of things I will do different with my next attempts.
I was encouraged by the inspiration provided by PathfinderNC and others. The builds shown on this site are amazing and the posting made me want to give it a try. Thank you to all the builders who have posted.
And thanks to Gerry (Lucky) at Powderhorns and More, for making raw materials so easily available. Without our fine vendors, many of us could not make things happen. BTW, I ordered more product from Gerry for my next go.

 

[CuNosecap]

I also used The book by Sibley to supplement tutorial by PathfinderNC.
What I learned and will do differently next time is the boiling or heating to make the base fit a round base plug. I tried to fit an irregular space with lots of sanding. It is airtight now but it took more effort than necessary and the cosmetic results, are, well, rustic at best.
I can say that drilling the spout was not a problem for the first timer.

 

[Wncman]

Nice

 

[Wncman]

This is my first horn and my first attempt at scrimshaw, so please be gentle.

My performance is crude and the scrim is cartoonish, but I learned a lot from the process, including a number of things I will do different with my next attempts.
I was encouraged by the inspiration provided by PathfinderNC and others. The builds shown on this site are amazing and the posting made me want to give it a try. Thank you to all the builders who have posted.
And thanks to Gerry (Lucky) at Powderhorns and More, for making raw materials so easily available. Without our fine vendors, many of us could not make things happen. BTW, I ordered more product from Gerry for my next go.

Nice

 

[Lucky]

This is my first horn and my first attempt at scrimshaw, so please be gentle.

My performance is crude and the scrim is cartoonish, but I learned a lot from the process, including a number of things I will do different with my next attempts.
I was encouraged by the inspiration provided by PathfinderNC and others. The builds shown on this site are amazing and the posting made me want to give it a try. Thank you to all the builders who have posted.
And thanks to Gerry (Lucky) at Powderhorns and More, for making raw materials so easily available. Without our fine vendors, many of us could not make things happen. BTW, I ordered more product from Gerry for my next go.

That's great work! Very folk art like the originals....well done!

 

[CuNosecap]

Thank you Gerry for those kind words. Just like the saying, "One man's treasure is another man's trash," the idea of "folksy", "rustic" etc. borders on "chickenscratch". I will take that this was my first try so I will work that out. I am proud of the end result as it is functional, I didn't bore a hole out the side, and the colors turned out OK. I think the scrim may have shown better had the horn not had so much natural color streaking.

On the lines of "folk art", I chose to use some copper tacks that are irregular/squared shafts for the butt plug fixation. I cut the heads off and carefully peened them over. But this "folksy" was intentional, as was the butt plug carving and copper tack.

I just received my order from Powderhorns and More and am very happy with the horns sent. I highly recommend them for quality and prompt shipping. These horns may make my chickenscratch look better on the horns with more clear areas, less natural streaking. I will do some things differently (end cap fitting). I also will do my dye staining in batches since I hate tossing a bucket f dye after one horn.

Stay tuned, but it may be a while for the next horn. Besides I'm still working on a Chambers PA fowler.
Rick

 

[S.Kenton]

Your scrim looks very nice, just like many of the originals I’ve handled. I also like the color of the horn. Your horn looks a lot better than most for a first attempt. I really like it!

 

[CuNosecap]

Thank you. I followed the Rit dye recipes in Sibley’s book (mostly).

 

[boberator]

This is my first horn and my first attempt at scrimshaw, so please be gentle.

My performance is crude and the scrim is cartoonish, but I learned a lot from the process, including a number of things I will do different with my next attempts.
I was encouraged by the inspiration provided by PathfinderNC and others. The builds shown on this site are amazing and the posting made me want to give it a try. Thank you to all the builders who have posted.
And thanks to Gerry (Lucky) at Powderhorns and More, for making raw materials so easily available. Without our fine vendors, many of us could not make things happen. BTW, I ordered more product from Gerry for my next go.

That doesn’t look bad at all. Looks like it was fun as well.

 

[Salty]

This is my first horn and my first attempt at scrimshaw, so please be gentle.

My performance is crude and the scrim is cartoonish, but I learned a lot from the process, including a number of things I will do different with my next attempts.
I was encouraged by the inspiration provided by PathfinderNC and others. The builds shown on this site are amazing and the posting made me want to give it a try. Thank you to all the builders who have posted.
And thanks to Gerry (Lucky) at Powderhorns and More, for making raw materials so easily available. Without our fine vendors, many of us could not make things happen. BTW, I ordered more product from Gerry for my next go.

Very nice!

 

[WonkyEye]

I haven't even completed my first horn yet, but I wanted to share/ask. I see most people use rit.
I used Revlon bright red hair dye in a tube. Before I knew about rit, I figured hair and horn are pretty much the same. Has anyone tried this before? I got great results. It's about toothpaste consistency. I mixed it with a bit of peroxide into more of a yogurt consistency and painted it onto my horn. Wrapped it in saran wrap for 30 mins and the result was a vibrant red. Abomination, I know, but it is what I was going for. I probably have enough to do 20 or 30 more horns at least.

I was making progress with the horn, until I turned the beehive bung and discovered my wood had beetle damage and found signs of an active infestation. That derailed my horn project. I've been treating everything in my garage/shop (which is a lot of lumber, bench, cabinets, jigs, wooden planes, saws, chisel handles, mallets, ....) but I hope to get back to it in the next few weeks.

 

[Lucky]

I haven't even completed my first horn yet, but I wanted to share/ask. I see most people use rit.
I used Revlon bright red hair dye in a tube. Before I knew about rit, I figured hair and horn are pretty much the same. Has anyone tried this before? I got great results. It's about toothpaste consistency. I mixed it with a bit of peroxide into more of a yogurt consistency and painted it onto my horn. Wrapped it in saran wrap for 30 mins and the result was a vibrant red. Abomination, I know, but it is what I was going for. I probably have enough to do 20 or 30 more horns at least.

I was making progress with the horn, until I turned the beehive bung and discovered my wood had beetle damage and found signs of an active infestation. That derailed my horn project. I've been treating everything in my garage/shop (which is a lot of lumber, bench, cabinets, jigs, wooden planes, saws, chisel handles, mallets, ....) but I hope to get back to it in the next few weeks.

I have never tried hair dye.....sounds interesting....post a picture.

 

[CuNosecap]

Hey HAM, concerning the horn and hair dye, you are correct that both hair and nail (horn in this case) are made of keratin. Therefore one would expect good results with hair dye.
My only concern is cost. Unless you have the right color laying around why try to beat Rit at 2-3 dollars per box? I can't imagine anything in the cosmetics counter being $3! Certainly not where my wife shops!