Making a round base powder horn without a lathe!

[omarick1948]

Here is a Tutorial in pictures, on how to make a two piece rounded base or butt plug for a powder horn without having a wood turning lathe and using only simple hand tools. I will not go into a lot of details here, but the pictures generally will let you see the process.

Pick out a raw cow horn of your choice. The horn here is extremely oval shaped and we want it round. Note the extra thick walls of this cow horn. __ This horn was heated using hot cooking oil at about 325 degree's!

This is the same horn, that was heated very hot and even over the entire inter and outer surface, then a round forming cone was carefully pushed into the end of the horn and set aside to cool overnight.

Next day, ready to continue!

Trim and or sand the base of the horn nice and flat on a sheet of sand paper with the grit up and on a very flat surface to true up the base rim.

Now set the horn base on a styrofoam plate and carefully push down hard to make an impression. You are making a pattern for the base plug.

Mark around the inter circle of your styrofoam pattern and carefully cut out leaving the marker line.

Lay pattern on a piece of wood and trace around pattern for the inter part of the base plug. Here, I am using 3/4" pine.

Now, cut out inter plug with a coping saw, jig saw or scroll saw, with about a 10 degree angle inward and then rasp, file or sand the plug for a nice snug, but not overly tight fit. You can either use bee's wax, glue or nothing to seal the plug into the horn.

Now cut you a piece of wood for the outer part of the plug and rasp and sand to shape.

Add your iron nails/wood pegs to secure base, linseed oil and a strap staple and your base plug is finished!

I hope this helped a few of you!
Rick

 

[necchi]

Thank You :thumbsup:

 

[wattlebuster]

Cool. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[Drago]

Was it submerged in oil or just coated? Thanks for the lesson.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Great tutorial. :applause:
Thanks. In fact you make it look so simple I'm embarassed I haven't mastered that yet. :redface:
The styrofoam plate bit is simple genius. I like simple. :bow:

 

[TinStar]

Thank you horner for that! I always wondered how it was done that way without a lathe.

TinStar
Soli Deo Gloria!

 

[Flint311]

Now that makes it look MUCH easier. Thanks for sharing! :thumbsup:

 

[TinStar]

Couple of questions.

What size fryer is needed or can a pot and thermometer be used?
Do you emmerse the entire horn?
How long do you do it for/
And does it stink bad enough that it must be done outside?

Thanks!

TinStar
Soli Deo Gloria!

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Very cool tutorial. :thumbsup:

 

[MSW]

that styrofoam plate trick is really neat!

thanks!

 

[omarick1948]

Couple of questions.

What size fryer is needed or can a pot and thermometer be used?
Do you emmerse the entire horn?
How long do you do it for/
And does it stink bad enough that it must be done outside?

Thanks!

TinStar
Soli Deo Gloria!

You have to heat at least half to two thirds of the horn in most cases. __ You can use a old pot and hot plate etc. to heat the oil. __ I use a Fry Daddy deep fryer. __ Yes, it will stink a little, so not recommended in the house, __ You don't want to scorch or cook the horn, so I will put the horn down in the hot oil for only 10-15 seconds at a time several times in and out till horn gets pliable.

 

[TinStar]

Thank ya much horner!! :hatsoff:

TinStar
Soli Deo Gloria!

 

[Sunkmanitu Tanka]

thanks a lot Horner! I learned a lot!

 

[WGR]

Thanks for the tutorial Rick... and showing us the simple way !! Gonna head to wally world and find a fry daddy.. WOOT

 

[AWsaddles]

Thanks ! I learned more in 11 pictures than I have in the last year trying to figure it out myself.

 

[omarick1948]

Thanks everyone! I thought that some of you might like to know this simple method. __ This will give any potential Hornsmith's a starting point, as well as the person who wants to make that one or two powder horns.

Rick

 

[mccarthy.tf]

I used a router table with a quarter round bit. Still saving for a lathe.

 

[Nappers]

THANK YOU!!!!

I have 2 raw matching horns that I need to make up and that is awesome!

Thanks for helping us and showing us your work!

 

[user 922]

A word of caution when using hot oil. I always cut the tip of the horn and drill the hole for the stopper before shaping the base. There's two reasons for doing this: If I make a mistake and drill through the horn I haven't wasted a lot of energy heating and shaping it. Also, and most important, the hole allows air to escape when the horn is lowered into the oil. This ensures that the inside of the horn is also being heated and there won't be a big air bubble (and hot oil splash) when immersing the horn. BTW, the guys in the Horners' guild recommend lard, which is available at any grocery store.

Also, when heating in 325-350 degree oil wear leather gloves so that you can withdraw the horn and squeeze it to see if it's pliable. When bubbles start to form around the horn check it frequently. A thick section like Rich shows will take about 30 seconds or more, but a thin section can be ruined by that time. You want a pliable horn, not french fries.

 

[omarick1948]

A word of caution when using hot oil. I always cut the tip of the horn and drill the hole for the stopper before shaping the base. There's two reasons for doing this: If I make a mistake and drill through the horn I haven't wasted a lot of energy heating and shaping it. Also, and most important, the hole allows air to escape when the horn is lowered into the oil. This ensures that the inside of the horn is also being heated and there won't be a big air bubble (and hot oil splash) when immersing the horn. BTW, the guys in the Horners' guild recommend lard, which is available at any grocery store.

Also, when heating in 325-350 degree oil wear leather gloves so that you can withdraw the horn and squeeze it to see if it's pliable. When bubbles start to form around the horn check it frequently. A thick section like Rick shows will take about 30 seconds or more, but a thin section can be ruined by that time. You want a pliable horn, not french fries.

Good points! __ Eric has made some good suggestions, but I think that we all should realize, that working with hot oil demands extreme safety and precautions.

BTW, the guys in the Horners' guild recommend lard,Note!..We have several lady horners in the HCH as well!
Some HCH members recommend using lard, but many, including myself use other types of heat delivery including cooking oil, peanut oil, Crisco or other shortenings etc.__ Believe me, all work equally well!

A thick section like Rick shows will take about 30 seconds or more
Actually sometimes, much more. __ the cow horn pictured took me about 15 minutes in and out of the hot oil! __ Each horn is different!