AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Contemporary Accoutrements => Topic started by: Dennis Daigger on March 15, 2022, 11:09:39 PM
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The bag is full. NO MORE LITTLE THINGS. Elk horn and ebony scraps courtesy of Dick Robertson.
I finished this flat horn today and have learned more lessons as usual than I had expected to. First, get a basic horn working instruction book of some kind. If an incising blade has any flex it can easily wander when cutting lines. Scribes need to be very sharp. Horn, like wood, can have different levels of hardness in different areas. Tiny ebony wood nails are challenging to make. A tapered channel in the spout will make fitting a snug plug easier. A heat gun might be too high tech for me. Soaking over night then boiling in water seemed to work ok.
Here is the horn I started with and the end result.
(https://i.ibb.co/HqfVYQV/IMG-6848.jpg) (https://ibb.co/dDwr6yr)
Making wood 7/64" nails.
(https://i.ibb.co/PtYnZzz/IMG-6860.jpg) (https://ibb.co/4JfGZgg)
Really surprising the root beer color that emerged from under the black of the pointy end of the horn as it got worked down.
(https://i.ibb.co/pjBcL8G/IMG-6861.jpg) (https://ibb.co/5hgmRyt)
(https://i.ibb.co/jbCtdMb/IMG-6862.jpg) (https://ibb.co/djNZS2j)
(https://i.ibb.co/Q8NqKXB/IMG-6863.jpg) (https://ibb.co/5Y8zR2D)
(https://i.ibb.co/XYW8jk5/IMG-6864.jpg) (https://ibb.co/HhKdBpP)
I had planned to scrim something on the whitest side but until I get a better handle on the tools it will stay as is. Controlling the depth of scribing and cutting the engrailing were the most difficult parts that need a LOT more practice.
I should say I recently got a John Proud flat horn so had an extraordinary example in hand to demonstrate how precise and artful horn work can be done. Inspirational for sure.
Dennis
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That came out about 774x better than my first attempt at a flat horn... And I haven't even tried one yet!
Nice work Dennis!
Mike
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Very nice ...
I have to get some of my flat horns up!
You did great work!
Jim
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Looks very nice to me. Nice job.
Ken
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I wouldn’t change anything, i like the simplicity of it.
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Dennis, that's an absolutely fabulous flat horn. It doesn't need any more scrimshaw. I would think more might detract from it.
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That came out about 774x better than my first attempt at a flat horn... And I haven't even tried one yet!
Nice work Dennis!
Mike
Mike, this may help.
Tim
https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=70772.msg706940#msg706940
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Very pretty flat horn . Rootbeer color is neat.
george
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I like everything about that horn Dennis. It looks like you have made hundreds of them. Your advise is also spot on. If you do another don't be leary of using a heat gun. It is a lot faster and easier than boiling in water. Does take a bit of experience though.
John
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I like everything about that horn Dennis. It looks like you have made hundreds of them. Your advise is also spot on. If you do another don't be leary of using a heat gun. It is a lot faster and easier than boiling in water. Does take a bit of experience though.
John
Thanks, John. My mantra if there is another one will be 'Conquer the Heat Gun'. When I got a small scorch mark I quit as I thought I'd gone too far.
Dennis
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That came out about 774x better than my first attempt at a flat horn... And I haven't even tried one yet!
Nice work Dennis!
Mike
Mike, this may help.
Tim
https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=70772.msg706940#msg706940
Aww Tim, thanks. I don't know what you did before becoming a horn maker, but you would have made a fine teacher.
Mike
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You are an extremely skilled and multi-talented individual Dennis. My compliments. God Bless, Marc
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That's a beauty!
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Beautiful flatty.
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Nicely done!
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The secret to using a heat gun is to never let it point to the same place, always keep it moving. Holding it steady on one place is what scorches the horn.
Horn gets very pliable at somewhere between 325 and 350 degrees F. The heat gun or hot oil can get it there easily. Not so much with boiling water which only gets to 212 degrees.
Long ago and in a galaxy far away, I used boiling water to soften the horn. But, I was not always pleased with the results. Then I bought a hot air gun and life got immensely better. I also did not like steaming up my small workshop on a daily basis.
My preference is the heat gun. I have tried hot oil a time or two and although I got good results, I really did not care much for the process. Nor did I like the odor of French Fried Horn. But, each to his own.
I always used birch (think round toothpicks) when I used wooden pins to secure the base plug. By belt sanding the ends with a fine belt, that gave me that black appearance you achieved with the ebony pins. Nice job but a lot of work there.
Anyway, so much for those opinions. YMMV, as they say.
John (Bigsmoke)
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The secret to using a heat gun is to never let it point to the same place, always keep it moving. Holding it steady on one place is what scorches the horn.
Horn gets very pliable at somewhere between 325 and 350 degrees F. The heat gun or hot oil can get it there easily. Not so much with boiling water which only gets to 212 degrees.
Long ago and in a galaxy far away, I used boiling water to soften the horn. But, I was not always pleased with the results. Then I bought a hot air gun and life got immensely better. I also did not like steaming up my small workshop on a daily basis.
My preference is the heat gun. I have tried hot oil a time or two and although I got good results, I really did not care much for the process. Nor did I like the odor of French Fried Horn. But, each to his own.
I always used birch (think round toothpicks) when I used wooden pins to secure the base plug. By belt sanding the ends with a fine belt, that gave me that black appearance you achieved with the ebony pins. Nice job but a lot of work there.
Anyway, so much for those opinions. YMMV, as they say.
John (Bigsmoke)
Thanks, John. Maybe I was holding the horn too close to the heat gun but even with constant motion of the horn I still got some scorching. A cousin sent me a small Highland horn that is quite thin and I plan to try the heat gun on it but only using supersonic passes a ways from the gun.
Dennis
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That is beautiful!
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That is absolutely fantastic. I love the colors. And the engraving with the artwork incorporated with it is fantastic. Not sure what you are finding to be critical about with it, but, we all tend to be our own toughest critics.
I would be proud to carry and use that horn just as it is.
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I have not tried this on horn, but it works very well on Osage orange. I have an oil filled electric radiator; I would put the part of the bow limb I wanted to bend in between the vanes. I would go and do something else for a while. That would preheat the wood enough to make it pliable. Sometimes, I would need to assist with the heat gun, but the wood was already preheated and wouldn't need much. Never scorched the wood doing it that way.
Very nice horn Dennis. I very much like flathorns.
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That is such an elegant horn I'd forget inscribing it, if it were me. Great work.
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Very nice flat horn whether your first or one hundredth. You done good