Protecting horn.

[mudd turtle]

Several years ago at a Rev war reenactment I bought a neat little salt horn. I put it away in a drawer in my shop and one day I went to find it . Well I found it and noticed two little holes in the horn. I knew what was going on with the horn. It was being eaten and distroyed by bugs. My question is can I plug the two little holes with fiber glass or just leave them along. Is there anything I can do -rubb spray or anything to protect the horn from these bugs. Mudd Turtle.

 

[brubincam]

:rotf: :rotf: YEAH get TERMINEX,, :rotf: :rotf:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I hang my horns in the air, so I don't have to deal with bugs in dark places. If you are going to store them in a drawer, consider putting moth balls in the drawer. That seems to be the cheapest and most effective commercial product available. If you are a pipe or cigar smoker, you can take old tobacco and sprinkle it around the drawer to act as in insect repellant. The nicotine is the active ingredient for this work, and it does work. Of course, you are left with anything in the drawer made of natural fibers taking on the smell of the tobacco, so this may not be the best solution in all cases.

I suggest that if you are going to store horns in drawers, or other dark places, think about putting them in plastic bags, with a desicant packet, to remove any moisture, and a mothball or two won't hurt either. If I had only one horn to store, I would do this. If I am storing a bunch of green horns in a box or chest, then the moth balls would be the way to go.

 

[mudd turtle]

How do I plug the two little holes in the horn. I have heard that rubbing bee's wax on the horn will protect it from these bugs mudd turtle

 

[paulvallandigham]

I would use barrel bedding epoxy to close the holes. The stuff can be sanded down. You may have to put something on the inside of the horn to control how much glue goes into the horn, depending on how big a hole it. If the holes are located in the neck area, you might want to consider making a composite horn out of what is left, cutting away the neck that has the holes, and then finding another horn with a good nec that fits the base of your, cutting the new horn off to fit, and epoxying the two horns together.With scallups at the border of the two horns, this makes a very fancy styled horn out of what might have been a throw away. If the holes are all over the base of the horn, or on a couple of different side, then you might have to consider getting a new horn altogether. But you can cut strips out of your horn to use to make spoons, forks, combs, etc. All you need is an imagination, and maybe some idea from looking through some of the supplier catalogues to see what kind of horn impliments are being made and sold these days. I bought a horn spoon and fork at a rendezvous several hears ago. I also have a mug made from a large horn, with a wood base that was epoxied into the horn, and a strip of the horn extending up from the top edge of the mug and then steamed and bent over to form the handle of the mug.Drinking hot drinks out of the mug is not recommended, unless you like the smell and taste of horse hooves, but cold drinks seem to be okay. ( Beer?)

 

[omarick1948]

How do I plug the two little holes in the horn. I have heard that rubbing bee's wax on the horn will protect it from these bugs mudd turtle

To plug the bug holes, just use a 2 part five minute epoxy and liquid craft paint. Put you a small dob of the resin on a piece of paper and then add a very small amount of the paint. Experiment with different colors of the paint to get the desired color and shade you want to match the horn color.

When you have the color you want,add the same mount of the Hardner and mix well. Keep mixing until the epoxy starts to set and then
fill-in the holes and remove excess. Let dry and scrape off lightly and polish with #0000 steel wool.

Experiment a little before you try this method..GOOD LUCK! :wink:

RICK