Sealing my horn

[stone knife]

What are the proper steps to take in sealing a powder horn to make it water and air tight. I have what looks to be a cheap horn but if I can get it water tight it will serve a purpose for what I need.

 

[necchi]

Warm it in the oven (very low setting with the door proped open a bit,
Then dribble candle wax on the seam and rub it in.
Bee's wax candles work great.
Let it cool and buff it out.

 

[Sperit de bois]

I build horns!!!!!!!!!!Water/air tight......................... After you install the butt plug,,,I roll up balls of bees wax,feed them down the spout,,,now take a hair dryer,so borrow one,,tilt the horn spout up,butt down, and heat the horn around the butt plug with the hair dryer,now put your lips on the spout and GENTLE blow,pressurize the horn,, roll the horn around and around.The warm/melted bees wax will fill any/all voids and then let the horn cool.The horn is as water tight as a ducks butt.
Been doing it this way for 30+ years,,NEVER had one leak,,NEVER....N E V E R

 

[rafterob]

Assuming you don't want to try to take the horn apart follow Necchi's advice. Bees wax is the best, it is more pliable than the parafin used in a lot of candles. Interesting method proposed by Spirit. I put a ring of beeswax around the base plug before final assembly, set it in a low oven till it just starts to melt and then press the plug in quickly. Excess will press out the seam, which I remove and buff over.

 

[MSW]

Sperit, wow!

:hatsoff:

your method is very clever: simple, elegant and effective ... gotta give that a try on my next build!

 

[cynthialee]

genius!

I have a new horn on the way and I am gonna seal it like you described.

 

[omarick1948]

Assuming you don't want to try to take the horn apart follow Necchi's advice. Bees wax is the best, it is more pliable than the parafin used in a lot of candles. Interesting method proposed by Spirit. I put a ring of beeswax around the base plug before final assembly, set it in a low oven till it just starts to melt and then press the plug in quickly. Excess will press out the seam, which I remove and buff over.

I agree with this method and use it regularly and have for nearly 40 years now. The only variation to the method, is now I use a heat gun instead of an oven. __ I have made several hundred powder horns (603 as of yesterday) since way back in the seventies, but I can't make a statement to say that none of mine ever leaked air or is water proof, as I'm not with each and every one to state that I have NEVER, NEVER, had one leak!

I am betting I have had some that might of leaked with hard use or owner neglect over the years. The natural makeup of cow horn is fibers of fused together hair type membrane, that will natural swell, shrink and in some cases crack over time, so some air and/or moisture can get in or out of even the best sealed powder horns. Many, many original powder horns show repairs for leakage as well as damage from shrinkage etc. IT'S JUST THE NATURE OF THE BEAST!

Sounds to me that you might have one of those India import horns and all of those usually have no wax, glue of other sealant of any type and the base plug is usually just secured(?) with a few brass tacks. If that be the case, just pull those tacks and melt some bee's wax around the wood base rim AND inside rim of the horn___then push the plug back on the horn and re-tack the base!

If you construct a very well fitted base plug and bee's wax the rim of the base plug. You will not have to worry about dropping bee's wax balls(?) down the spout in hopes that the wax melts and fills-in any wide gaps! __ Besides adding a little extra weight to that horn, black powder can stick and cake in that horn with all that extra wax on a hot Summer's day, so you want to use it sparingly!

Jim!...I didn't know you made powder horns!..


:rotf: :rotf:

Rick :haha:

 

[cynthialee]

Could the horn be kept from craking with some type of treatment like an oil or saddle soap worked into it on occasion?
I know that horn is mainly keratin so perhaps some of the hair care products that are designed to reinforce and repair keratin could be worked into the horn before it see's service. Or on occasion as a preventative maintainance thing.

 

[LRB]

I am not a regular hornsmith, but you may have something there. As long as any scrimshaw isn't affected, I don't think it could hurt. Even an occasional wipe with beeswax could help.

 

[hawkthrower]

CynthiaLee, As I am sure Rick will tell you johnsons paste wax is one of the best things to use on a horn. Just a light coating maybe once a year should keep a horn in great shape for alot longer than we will last. :grin: :grin:

Ron

 

[Sperit de bois]

Rick the NEVER was surpose to have question marks and Exclaimation points behind it(tic) oops that is why it was in all caps,,,
If the temperature is high enough to melt the wax inside of my horn Iam headed for the lake.
Dont know as I would call mine Powder Horns so much as Powder transport containers???!!!!!!
I have to wonder what was used back in the day to preserve a horn,,cant figure there was much saddle soap.hair conditioner and such.I figure it would be more like just use or grease from what ever they ate,bear fat and the such.

 

[jeffdrown]

I have not been horn making very long ..but what I do is have a "very well fitted base plug. I smoke the horn a little (helps seal too) and a few coats of minwax wood wax paste.

 

[stone knife]

I pulled the tacks out and removed the base plug. I'm going to make my own because i don't like the way the one that came with it looks. I'm going to make a staple for the strap and secure the new plug with some black steel nails instead of the tacky looking tacks.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Could the horn be kept from craking with some type of treatment like an oil or saddle soap worked into it on occasion?

Almost any oil will help with that. e.g. mineral, Neatsfoot, etc.
But, for most part, is not needed. A light wax on outside is OK. But, IMHO, not needed. Keep the buggies away and a horn will last almost forever.

 

[omarick1948]

CynthiaLee, As I am sure Rick will tell you johnsons paste wax is one of the best things to use on a horn. Just a light coating maybe once a year should keep a horn in great shape for alot longer than we will last. :grin: :grin:

Ron

Yepper! __ You can ask twenty people this question and get twenty different answers, I've tried everything from tallo to Camel squirt over the years, but like Hawkthrower says. Good old Johnson's past wax is my preference and one I use and recommend to others!__ Not as hard a finish compared to JPW, but plain old bee's wax works OK and used for centuries, but ants and other crawly critters (including bee's) sometimes love it also!

Rick

 

[cynthialee]

I took some putty and filled in the edges around the plug and was sure to wipe away all the excess then I put a few coats of Seche Vite clear nail polish around the plug and finish nails. Also put a bit of OPI clear top coat around the nozzle part that the little plug goes in, because I can imagine that part gets broken easy. Then I wraped hemp twine around that part for extra reinforcement.
It might not be traditional, but it works.

 

[cynthialee]

(I had planed on ussing bees wax but I couldn't find where I put the stuff and I saw the putty on the tool box and decided to go with it.)

 

[omarick1948]

 

Could have been worse, she could have seen bubble gum. :wink:

 

[cynthialee]

Could have been worse, she could have seen bubble gum. :wink:

It is working.

You guys have duct tape and us girls have nail polish....

(I couldn't say how many times I have ussed nail polish for repairs.)