Wood for Powder Horn butt plug

[bioprof]

Received Sibley's book on Recreating the Powder Horn last week and had already received a horn blank to make my first horn. I was thinking of using some pretty curly maple for the butt plug, but they suggest using soft pine. Is there any reason you shouldn't use a fancier wood for the plug? Would this not be PC?

 

[Halftail]

Bioprof,
I just finished making my first horn Last night.I used Pine for the plug.

Is there any reason you shouldn't use a fancier wood for the plug?

I would imagine that it would be cheaper to "screw up" a piece of pine than a Nice piece of Curly Maple.
Having said that I like the looks of Horns plugged with a nice piece of wood. :imo:

 

[riarcher]

Hmmm, interesting.
I've tried teak, walnut, mahogany, cherry, and whatever else I've had catch my eye.
I hand carve my plugs and some woods are just too danged hard to bother with. Kind of getting a liking for the native red ceder. :m2c:

 

[Dave K]

Many were made from a soft wood, like pine. Personally I have always used maple (from the scraps of the gun stock that I am making the horn for) or walnut. I mark around the base of the horn I want to plug and then cut inside of the line for a F&I style horn. I use a belt sander in a vise to then add the taper to slip the plug into the horn.

 

[Slamfire]

Although it takes a wood lathe, the old timers liked a lot of the fruit woods, apple, cherry, etc. It is one of the hallmarks of the York County, PA horns. :m2c:

 

[Birddog6]

I made a horn plug/cap out of pine one time. Horn looked real good, plug looked like crap. Had it that way about a week & every time I looked at it I was discusted with the appearance, so I cut it off & put a pretty piece of curly maple in it.

PC ? IMHO they used what they had regardless of the type of wood it was. 99% of the time a horn was a Utility item, not a show piece. Now most of the fancy Old ones ya see we not made to be used, they were exactly what they are now, made to show off & lots of them were never used. (IMHO)

Anyway, after that horn incident, from then on I used curly Maple, Alder, Cherry, Walnut, Ebony, Redwood Burl, anything that looks good with beautiful grain or burl or whatever. Never again pine..... Come to think of it, I can't think of a dang thing I actually like pine for. I use it for building structures but I don't like it.... Crappy wood, anyway ya go... not durable, bugs love it, wet rots to easy, ugly grain, soft, squirmy, just don't like it at all. Heart pine is the only pine I ever saw that was substantial. I like hardwoods like Oak, Ash, Hickory, Maple, Walnut, etc.

:m2c:

 

[Flint50]

Crappy wood, anyway ya go... not durable, bugs love it, wet rots to easy, ugly grain, soft, squirmy, just don't like it at all.

C'mon Birddog6- how do you REALLY feel about pine? :crackup:

 

[silverfox]

bioprof: Looks like you got some good answers. Use a nice piece of wood. Pine might be lighter and easier to work with but now a days we like good looks and a little heavier doesn't matter. Birddog had some good thoughts there are woods that are just to hard to work with so pick one you like make yourself a nice looking horn. The last I made was Mesquite and I'll think about doing that again as it was well dryed and very hard but pretty.
Fox :thumbsup:

 

[crockett]

Tell us more about what kind of horn you are thinking of making. Are you going to turn the plug or shape it to fit? What kind of engraving, carving etc are you planning to do with the horn?

 

[Birddog6]

ha ha ha ! Well........ I was going to add in Mimosa but that would really send me off on a rant & I just didn't want to go there today ! ha ha ! Besides, I can't even spell mimosa ? You knowhaddamean ? That dang soft scrubby ugly ratty useless tree that splits every time it forks, the one that fills you gutters full of crap & comes up all over the dang place, but your 85 yr ol Mom won't let ya cut them gown cause thay are pretty, but once a week ya have to go cut off the broken limbs off the eighty-nine of them that come up out of nowhere this year, then split & broke off again...... You know, THAT tree !! :curse: :curse: :shocking: oooooooooops !
dang it ! ....... now ya got me going again !!

 

[Dave K]

Birddog,How long have you had this problem with various woods? For an exceptional piece of burly walnut as a small fee, I feel certain I can cure you of this horrible affliction! But, there are times I may take two pieces of wood to get out all of the wickedness.

 

[Catof9tails]

Bioprof: I'm not a powder horn expert, but have built about six powder horns. I've used wildland fire dried Juniper and Bur Oak for my horn plugs and so far they seem to do the job. I've coated some plugs with Watco Danish Oil and some with Minwax Tung Oil Finish. The Minwax seems to penetrate deeper in the wood and makes it stronger. So far, none of my plugs have broken to date. Guess you can say I play a challenge with horn plugs, because I do not cut with the grain of the wood, I cross section the grains to show the growth rings. Cross sections make the plug weaker as any Forester will tell you. But by using the Watco and Minwax, I think I've reinforced the plug enough to reduce possible breakage if the horn was dropped. Plus, the tree rings really look nice on a powder horn. In addition, I would not rule out walnut, cherry, or maple.

I see your located in SD. If your near the Blackhills, then your Bur Oak supply is unlimited. However, I would recommend you stay away from Ironwood. Ironwood splinters very easily.

Horn building is a lot of work, but very rewarding seeing the finished product. Good luck on your horn building.

Catof9tails

"Drop that hammer and let'er smoke!"

 

[merdean]

I usually try to make a horn for each rifle as I build it. If maple stocked, horn plug is maple. Walnut stock, walnut plug, etc. So far, I have been lucky and have always had a piece of wood big enough for any horn plug. I have never used pine. I don't see any reason to do so. Pine splits, cracks and has no grain. It is soft and mars easily. I would rather use balsa. That way, I could have an excuse for missing that buck. "I missed that shot cause my horn plug fell out and I was sitting in a pile of powder. I was afraid to shoot for fear of causing a forest fire." beats "I missed the buck cause I had a bad case of buck fever!" :crackup:
I figure that a lot of work goes into a horn. The plug should look good too!

 

[mowolf]

Well, I have used Pine, easy to work with and stains good, Walnut, looks good, hard to shape, Mahoganey (scrap from lumber yard) very nice hard to shape, but darn nice and red cedar, easy to work with and plenty more where that came from. I like the cedar, but is easy to split and usually takes about three attempts before I get 1 plug. I do not use mechanical tools or lathes to shape the plugs, pocket knife, and various grits of snad paper, sometimes a rasp. Have also softened the horn by boiling and then letting it cool into shape around the plug, easier than shapping to fit, but I think I will go back to shaping by hand, more interesting.

Waya :m2c:

 

[Catof9tails]

Just wanted to add to Birdog6 and mowolf's post. Birdog has a point with pine being very soft and not pleasing to the eye with wood grains. The softer the wood the more dents it receives with use. The harder the wood (less dents) the greater chance of breakage along with the grains of structure. Mowolf mentioned red cedar, which is primarialy located east of the Missouri River. However, red cedar and juniper are very similar in wood grain texture and strength. If Bioprof is looking for PC (taking that meaning Politically Correct) then I would stay with your text book. However, I assume (assume is a dangerous word) back in the old days, most folks used woods that was available in the location they homesteaded. :imo:

I know that does not answer your question to the point, but might get you thinking with all the other responses.

I wish you the best of luck with your first powder horn. Would be nice to see a photo when your done.
:front:

Cat9

 

[dlemaster]

I'll admit I don't make many powder horns but I made an early lipped map horn of area of Ohio that I used walnut for the plug, it turned out pretty nice.
I have two original horns probably from the early 19th century that both have pine plugs, but I also have an original Lancaster screw tip horn with a turned walnut plug.
So I wouldn't be afraid to use clear white pine for a plug, but I generally use a hard wood.
Just my $0.2 worth.

Regards, Dave

 

[weeping wolf]

I've made about 15 horns to date and take alot of pleasure in using native woods for the plugs. :m2c: It's my own belief that whatever woods are common to your area of the country are "PC". Most of my plugs are turned on a lathe, so I like to use those woods that cut nice and clean. Generally, I use cherry, butternut, apple, and sometimes walnut. Butternut has nice turning qualities and looks beautiful when finished. If you don't have access to a woodturning lathe and must fashion your plug by hand, then you're probably better off staying with the softer woods, such as pine. Either way you decide, it's a real treat to look at your finished horn with a deep sense of accomplishment. Happy hornsmithing!

 

[hornbuilder]

bioprof:
the only reason to use pine or a soft wood for your plug is mostly the ease of working softer woods. there are far more original horns with soft wood plugs than hard woods .. i believe the ease of working the wood with the tools that they would have possesed at the time the only reason. :m2c:

 

[dryfly]

Bioprof:

The hardest part of making a horn is the air (and water) proof fir between the horn and the plug. I use white pine, stain seal and finish it with the same finish I use on the rifle. Looks good, protects the powder. And that is what is needed.