Waxing the inside of a horn?

[doverdog]

I am in the process of making a horn, it started out as a type of flat powder horn, but have decided to use it for a small canteen instead. Since water left in the inside of an untreated cowhorn would have a rather "gamey" taste, and not high on my list of favorite beverages, how do you treat the inside of the horn to eliminate this possibility. I assume you use beeswax but is there any secrets to the application process? Or is it as simple as melting some wax and sloshing around. One end is already plugged but I have the large end still open, to work with. :hmm:

 

[musketman]

how do you treat the inside of the horn to eliminate this possibility. I assume you use beeswax but is there any secrets to the application process? Or is it as simple as melting some wax and sloshing around.

Yes, slosh it around, only use several coats instead of one large one...

It's just like making candles, you dip them several times to build up their thickness, you would pour wax in the horn several times to build up the layers there too...

 

[Stumpkiller]

A better choice than beeswax might be pine pitch (aka: "Brewer's Pitch"). That's what is used to seal canteens and kegs.

http://jas-townsend.com/product_info.php?products_id=373

 

[doverdog]

I checked out the Brewer's Pitch and have two questions about it. First, does the water from a canteen lined with the stuff tend to taste like it came from an old turpentine can, and second, is the stuff best melted in a double boiler type setup. I am going to get a much bigger horn than the one I inquired about in this post, to use for a canteen. I would hate to make a canteen and then have the water taste unfit to drink.

 

[Stumpkiller]

No, I believe it is pretty unsoluable at drinking water temperatures.

I would use a double boiler, certainly. Always a good choice when heating waxes and such.

Hey, do you want your water to taste pleasant or authentic? Try a waxed leather canteen and ANYTHING will taste better by comparison. :haha:

 

[76monza]

Superflint,
I made a few horn drinking flasks before, what I found is the beeswax does impart a taste to the water that I don't like. I don't know about the brewers pitch, never tried it before. What I finally used was just plain parafin wax, didn't leave a taste that I could tell.
I just sealed the horn up and drilled the drinking hole in the horn. Then heated the wax up very hot in a double boiler. I poured it right in the hole plugged it with my finger and sloshed that around real fast and poured it out just as fast. I then kept turning the horn to keep any liquid wax from pooling in one area. I had a build up around the opening so I went in with some dental picks and scraped off the excess wax.

Smokeydays

 

Haveing boiled horns to make turkey calls with.. by scrapeing down real thin to get the sound of a hen. then drilling a hole in the pointed end of the horn and then attaching a surgical hose with a hollow turkey wing bone in it , from the smell form the horn while boiling , PEEEEEEEEUUU , a canteen would be the last thing I would make out of a horn. No matter how ya cleaned and sealed it. :imo:

Woody

 

[76monza]

Woodhick,
When you boil the horn, do you totally immerse the whole horn or just the part that needs to be reshaped? What about cracking or fibers separating? I ask because I have some buffalo caps and they seem to have a lot of fiber separation towards the base. Even after cutting and truing up the base of the horn. So I've been a little leery about trying to boil the horn and setting it onto the plug for fear of cracking as it drys.

 

I get a pot of water 3/4 full deep enough to cover the horn completely. Place it on a propane burner such as a turkey cooker burner.. and boil it till the inside falls right out of the horn. I have never had any crack, and the only seperation is the inside from the outside of the horn and I have done dozen's of them this way.
I sometmes reboil them to make it easier to scrape to the thickness desired as they scrape easier when taken out of the boiling water. Sort of like cutting your toenails after a hot bath, it's easier.
A buffalo horn should be thick enough to scrape the cracks down on the out side and inside to get rid of them showing.

But I warn you. do it outside. or the MRS will be putting out more heat that the propane burner for sure!

Woody

 

[76monza]

Woodhick,
Thanks for the info. I had an enfleshed buffalo head given to me first of December. I wanted the caps off the head, and the scalp hair. but I found out the caps have to decay and rot loose from the skull. Which probably in a month my father-in-laws old silo won't be fit to walk around. Since I dumped the remains of the head there. The Mrs. was very tolerent of me as I scalped Mr. buffalo in the garage and gave him a sicilian necktie. I suppose boiling the horns out might be the lesser of the evils I've ever done.

smokeydays

 

[triphammer]

i always use beeswax in my horns the rum usally takes care of the wax taste :: :: ::