Violin Pegs For Horn Stoppers

[Tim Crosby]

 Rick's reply to today's blog post got me thinking:

 "I think that I would of made a different stopper.  I don't care much for violin peg stoppers, but that's a little thing.  Set-up looks fine.

Just my opinion!"


 I'll go along with that. Never have figured out why Violin pegs even on a new horn. I mean the first thing to get lost is a stopper, so ya just swing buy the music store and pick one that fits, I would think carving one out of a twig would be easier. I think they are an early 20th C thing, probably 1920s.

  Tim C.

[longcruise]

I have used a couple violin pegs and they work and look fine,   but I agree that they do get lost occasionally and a makeshift field expedient might have been the more likely than a more elaborate one.  Just made a new one last week when one of the kids used my horn and lost the spout plug.

[iloco]

I always use a leather string and drill a hole in my stopper and attached the stopper to my horn.  No loss stoppers this way..? 
I am sure others have thought of this.

[LRB]

Me too.

[J Henry]

  You can get a reamer that has the same taper as the peg so it is a nice friction fit..

[Tim Crosby]

 You can get a reamer that has the same taper as the peg so it is a nice friction fit..

 You can also use the tang of a file, a'la Scott. Need to be careful with tapered holes, a tapered stopper pushed in to hard or if banged will crack a horn.
 I always pull the stopper with my teath, that way I know it goes back in before touching her off.
 I still don't believe any horn left a shop with a Fiddle peg in it.
   Tim C.

[okieboy]

 I also leather string attach my pegs, but agree that the violin peg looks bad. The thumb piece is so big and black that it is hard to notice the rest of the horn. It would have helped to trim the thumb piece smaller, but a plug of wood matching the horn's butt would have made a piece with continuity.
 It is a lesson to think that with all the great work in that rig the eye wants to focus on that one discordant detail.

[eseabee1]

Tim I agree I don`t think fiddle pegs were used ..  I never use them its just as easy to make one

[longcruise]

I always use a leather string and drill a hole in my stopper and attached the stopper to my horn.  No loss stoppers this way..? 
I am sure others have thought of this.

I did this too until I read verified accounts of shooters forgetting to replace the plug and leaving it hanging on the lanyard while taking the shot.  Hot sparks entered the horn spout and it blew.  If it's held in your teeth or fingers, replacing it won't be forgotten.

[bonron]

 :)Tim Crosby: Tim: I have hunted over 40 years for deer and squirrel with various rifles requiring powder horns. I have never lost a horn plug and usually use  violin pegs simply because I like them. I too make horns, although not on your level. When I sell a horn it has no plug with it. I let the customer tell me what HE wants. Everybody is happy that way.

[smylee grouch]

I have used violin pegs on horns before but prefer to cut them down some what and I usually braid three strand waxed thread for a peg lanyard attached to the horn and peg. They might not have been used on originals like some have stated but I don't like to say never or always when we talk about what they did hundreds of years ago.

[iloco]

While looking through the book Kentucky Hunting Pouches I saw a few horns with strings of leather and other material attached to the stoppers.
 If these are older horns then I guess they did have ways to attach the stopper to the strap or bag. 

[Horner75]

I always use a leather string and drill a hole in my stopper and attached the stopper to my horn.  No loss stoppers this way..? 
I am sure others have thought of this.

I did this too until I read verified accounts of shooters forgetting to replace the plug and leaving it hanging on the lanyard while taking the shot.  Hot sparks entered the horn spout and it blew.  If it's held in your teeth or fingers, replacing it won't be forgotten.

DITTO

[KentSmith]

I have no knowledge of what may or may not have been used in the 18th or 19th century on horns either new built or used but I do have some idea how prevalent violins, fiddles and other musical instruments were.   Almost all families, even the most humble had a fiddle or other musical instrument and most could play something.  One of the simplest basic forms of 18th century entertainment was music.  I imagine most could whittle a violin peg at need or a powder horn stopper and vice versa.  Utility over aesthetic.

[Horner75]

Most of my ancestors including me, couldn't even carry a tone, let alone play an instrument, but I did have an uncle who could hit the jug pretty good! 

[bigsmoke]

Early on, I always made my plugs from a piece of hardwood dowel spinning it in a drill chuck and shaping it with a couple of different files.  Seemed like every time I had a batch of horns to ship out, I was out of or low on plugs.  Found a place to buy fiddle pegs in bulk and life took a better turn for me. 
So, I like fiddle pegs.
HC/PC?  Probably not.
Functional?  You bet.
And considering the time value of labor, much less expensive.
BUT
I am talking as a person making horns as a business, not as a hobbyist.  YMMV

[Pat_Cameron]

What I know about powder horns, You could fit on the end of a violin peg.
I had a couple violin pegs stoppers and did have some problem with them as they are ebony hardwood. I have since used white pine. I find the soft wood grips the horn better.
Don't expect to change anyone's mind on what they use. Just sharing my experience.

Pat

[grabenkater]

I dropped a horn of mine with an ebony violin peg in it and it split the mouth of the horn without harming the peg. From now on, I make all my pegs from soft wood, either pine or poplar.

[Robby]

I usually make a fiddle peg type stopper, using the end of the horn it came from. sometimes I whittle it out of a piece of wood to that configuration. I also tie it to the horn. It would be interesting to see some stoppers that are known to be original to the horn. Some of those old horns are pretty elegant and I would expect the stopper to be no less so.


Robby

[ricktull]

I use them occasionally, and like them on some horns. Grabenkater has a good point about the hardness of them. If I know the horn is going to be used I always use a carved poplar stopper.

[seesbirds]

OK so we're talking about today not 200 years ago right?  

I use fiddle pegs because:
1.  They are usually made out of hardwood, ebony for instance. I've not found this to be an issue so far but I hear what others have said about using soft wood.
2. They are easily replaced if lost (but you can make a little lanyard to hold them as others have cited.)
3. I use a reamer which has the same taper as the fiddle peg
4. I believe they complement my particular kind of work
5. They're functional
6. Since I sell my horns I have less time in them using fiddle pegs so as John observed, it's an economic decision.

Very few people who buy what I have to offer think that they are going to get a horn that looks 200 years old anyway so it works for me.  Is it PC/HC?  Probably not.

[bigsmoke]

One thing that I forgot to add to my previous post.

Since I switched over to using fiddle pegs instead of hand made plugs, I probably sent about 2,500 +/- horns out the door.  Out of all those, I received exactly zero (0) complaints.

As Mark said, my customers are not expecting 200 year old horns, so they don't really care about the HC/PC aspect.

One of my wholesale accounts asked if I was going to continue using them and was happy when I told him yes.

This is all FWIW.

John

[oldtravler61]

Well I use them. An I use deer antler too an sometimes I make them out of wood. But when the pc HC police tell me it never happened. My responce is. Wasn't there so honestly I don't really know. But because they have seen a few dozen examples it must not have happened. Yeah ok ! Moving on

[Poor Bull]

I like fiddle peg stoppers.  As far as cracking a horn tip with one. This is usually done by ignorant people at a trade table.  The first thing they do when picking up a powder horn is to start cranking on the stopper.  I feel like giving them a throat punch.

[The Original Griz]

I feel like giving them a throat punch.

And I thought I was the only person that feel like punching people in the throat..... Well I'll be.