RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
|
Post by RyanAK on Apr 16, 2023 16:27:21 GMT -7
A simple horn to pair with my English trade gun. Or a Fowler. Or rifle…  Needed a strap, so a piece (actually two pieces) of elk wang and some self-made hemp cordage set that straight.  Need to whittle up a plug, but I think this will do nicely for the Pennsylvania frontier in the mid 18th c.  |
|
|
|
Post by spence on Apr 16, 2023 18:15:47 GMT -7
Good looking horn, I like the simplicity.
Spence
|
|
|
|
Post by artificer on Apr 17, 2023 8:37:25 GMT -7
I very much like it as well. Elegant in its simplicity.
Gus
|
|
RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
|
Post by RyanAK on Apr 17, 2023 9:23:46 GMT -7
It’s… an original mid-18th c. horn that I ‘accidentally’ won with a ridiculous bid. Like… less than an inexpensive import horn from one of the sutlers. I’m absolutely smitten with it. Truly.    |
|
|
|
Post by hawkeyes on Apr 17, 2023 11:15:37 GMT -7
I've got a few...  Nice horn indeed, very much like it. Nails or pins securing the plug? |
|
RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
|
Post by RyanAK on Apr 17, 2023 11:45:28 GMT -7
Oh my! Good research material for your craft! I have a few things gathered to try my hand at making horns, but someday I’ll have a Hawkeye horn.  Plug is pinned with wooden pins. Hand forged screw, no evidence that it’s a replacement.  |
|
|
|
Post by hawkeyes on Apr 17, 2023 13:54:26 GMT -7
We're you able to back the screw out and verify the threads we're filed by hand? I ask because allot of people will "try" and pull one over on unsuspecting buyers with claims. The horn itself indeed looks right to my eyes. Base plug looks like a tight grained pine which is right for that type of example and to base it's age. I have a few originals I've contemplated carrying myself but I can't bring myself to as I have no need, I'll just make a copy!
Horn work is one tedious endeavor to do correctly as I've so learned. Many small nuances and details!
Also, when you fit a stopper be VERY mindful with the fit! You don't want to run the risk of cracking the tip or throat of the horn. It's rare to have the original stopper. Out of the dozen original examples I have three have original/ original period replacements.
|
|
|
|
Post by Black Hand on Apr 17, 2023 19:10:01 GMT -7
Use softwood for the spout plug. I scrape it to very nearly finished size then gently burnish and wax (read - dunk in molten beeswax until it won't take any more). Rub/scrape back the excess wax - gives a snug fit which should not absorb moisture and avoid cracking the spout.
|
|
Keith
City-dweller
Bushfire close but safe now. Getting some good rain.
Posts: 990 
|
Post by Keith on Apr 17, 2023 20:27:20 GMT -7
"an original mid-18th c. horn that I ‘accidentally’ won with a ridiculous bid. Like… less than an inexpensive import horn from one of the sutlers
I’m absolutely smitten with it. Truly".
Well done Ryan, nothing quite like the real thing.
Keith.
|
|
|
|
Post by artificer on Apr 18, 2023 3:20:25 GMT -7
We're you able to back the screw out and verify the threads we're filed by hand? I ask because allot of people will "try" and pull one over on unsuspecting buyers with claims. Along with looking for hand filed threads, one should look at the screw slot from the side. If the sides of the slot look parallel, it's probably no older than 19th century. This because 18th century furniture screws like this one should be, had V shaped slots chisel cut or filed in them. Oh, 18th century furniture screw threads were also often "swage formed" rather than being hand filed as well. This because Iron has a tendency to tear when cut or even filed for screw threads. They swaged the threads using dies that pressed the Iron into the shape of threads. Now they still won't look as neat as machine cut threads, though. Here's the best article I've ever seen on swaged and hand cut screw threads. americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=18831.0Gus |
|
RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
|
Post by RyanAK on Apr 18, 2023 15:45:21 GMT -7
Thanks, Keith! This is my first 18th C. artifact. It's charming and fires the imagination.
Hawkeyes and Gus... I'm not keen on trying to back the screw out for a look at the threads because the horn is tight as-is and I don't want to compromise anything. I did check the screw slot as soon as the horn arrived. It's a very narrow V.
Hand - softwood surely, and I started in on a piece of old, dry square pine that I had on hand. Good tip about saturating with wax. I had considered giving is a soak in Nelsonite to stabilize the plug from swelling, but wax is more HC. I also find a 'taper fit' is an advantage when wood can move with humidity. If diameter does increase, the taper will push the plug out before it can expand.
|
|
|
|
Post by brokennock on Apr 18, 2023 16:13:27 GMT -7
I cheat and use old broken cedar arrow shafts and an arrow tapering tool. Soft wood that smells good while cutting and tapering it, known taper (5°) so it can easily be matched in the spout. And I have a ready supply.
|
|
|
|
Post by artificer on Apr 19, 2023 7:05:42 GMT -7
Apr 18, 2023 18:45:21 GMT -4 RyanAK said: Hawkeyes and Gus... I'm not keen on trying to back the screw out for a look at the threads because the horn is tight as-is and I don't want to compromise anything. I did check the screw slot as soon as the horn arrived. It's a very narrow V.
OK, well if the screw is tight, I agree to leave it alone because unless you use leather faced wooden vise jaws, it would be too easy to bugger up the screw and you don't want to do that. By the way, I knew I had seen the banded spout and simple band on the front of a horn before, so I thought you might be interested in seeing another dated one. html.scribdassets.com/2irqwwj4hs4uo6uc/images/42-9ced53f73f.jpgPowder Horn Carried by Israel Dane “ISRAEL DANE - HIS HORN - MADE ON BORD THE SCHOONER SWAN - MAY THE 12, AD 1758” (Cowan’s Auctions) Gus |
|
|
|
Post by artificer on Apr 19, 2023 7:14:56 GMT -7
Oh, and don't get me started on correct things to look for as to whether or not furniture screws and furniture originated in the 18th century or earlier, as opposed to repro's of a century later or modern day repro's. Grin.
Gus
|
|
RyanAK
City-dweller
Once scalped…
Posts: 973
|
Post by RyanAK on Apr 22, 2023 7:38:44 GMT -7
I cheat and use old broken cedar arrow shafts and an arrow tapering tool. Soft wood that smells good while cutting and tapering it, known taper (5°) so it can easily be matched in the spout. And I have a ready supply. That’s a neat idea. I have a piece of pine square stock and a knife.  |
|
