first horn question

[LURCHWV@BJS]

I'm home this week with a bum knee, so I started my first powderhorn.  Almost done with it just have one question.  Is there a finish that will allow me to keep the natural colors and still have a wet look?


    Rich

[LRB]

  Sand it to 600 grit, then buff it with yellow rouge. However, originals were not normally finished much beyond a carefull scrapeing, and maybe a rub down with brick dust. 00, or 000 steel wool will give a fairly close to original appearance.

[tuffy]

I sand to 600 and then apply a couple of coats of Formby's Tung Oil with a cotton ball. I use the satin as opposed to the high gloss. The high gloss is just too shinny. Good thing about the tung oil is if you get a scratch or two, simply sand the area of the scratch and reapply the oil.

[rich pierce]

Lots of folks are now preferring finishes like were found on originals.  To get a little shine after scraping or rubbing with pumice powder then rottenstone, I burnish the horn with a smoothened antler.  I use the inside curve or a tine or the main beam.  It doesn't work if the antler isn't super smooth so i polish that first.

[BrownBear]

I dunno how authentic it is, but I really like the looks when I rub a horn lightly with beeswax, then polish like crazy with a soft rag to warm and spread it.  If a little happens to work it's way down into joints to seal them, that's a good thing too in my wet climate.   

[LURCHWV@BJS]

I will try the 600grt sandpaper well 500grt.  I just have some small rings the width of a rat tail needle file.  The main areas I am concerned with is where I used a half round file against the grain.  It has left the black of the horn grayish.  But I'll give it a try.  Hope to post pics soon. Have Dr. appointment with Orthpedic Surgen tommorrow, hope to have finished in the evening.

   Wouldn't it be nice if we could build a Rifle as fast as we can a Horn?

  Thanx  Rich

[Tim Crosby]

 Glue, spray adhesive works well, sandpaper around dowels to clean up your file/rasp marks. Start with 120 and go to about 220. Like Rich said you can burnish the horn if you want, a glass bottle works well.

 Tim C.

[seesbirds]

Lurch,

If you are really picky like I tend to be, you can get rid of a lot of the file marks using emery boards.  They come in different grits and are excellent at cleaning up file marks.

Mark