Rum Horn Questions

[LURCHWV@BJS]

Would you use charred oak for the ends ?  And what would you use to make itwatertight?   I want to use old historical methods .


Rich

[Cory Joe Stewart]

On originals I am not sure what wood was used.  As far as sealing it you can use Brewers Pitch.  I have never used a rum honr, I figure pitch might make the rum taste funny.  Also, this is just me personally, but I don't drink out of horn.  I am sure it is perfectly fine, but I have seen the inside of too many horns.

Coryjoe

[eseabee1]

Pine is ok for ends line with beeswax or brewers pitch ..I like beewax just make sure you really clean the inside of the horn and then its fine..

[Rasch Chronicles]

I happen to really like rum... and mead.

Since I am also fascinated by blacksmithing and mead,  this of course led me to read lots about Viking era mead making and their blacksmithing methods.  Let's skip the smithing, and talk about the mead. Clearly one must drink meadin a traditional manner, which as we all know requires the use of an appropriate horn!

See where we are going?

The traditional interior finish for a drinking horn would be beeswax, and I recall reading that the same is used for rumhorns.

I am thinking that if you are going to coat all of the insides in wax, it won't help to char the oak ends.  And anyway we are talking rum here, not scotch!

Now at this point I am kind of working the details out as a I go, so you guys see what you think, and see if it's a good plan or not.

I would turn both ends to a very tight fit, and waist it a bit so that when the horn cools and shrinks it grips into the waist.
Make the insides ends of the horn as smooth as possible.
Boil the horn and change the water a minimum of three times to disinfect it, and remove as much of the burnt hair smell as possible. I would just have two pots going and switch from one to the other, refilling the first one for the third bath.
Use the second pot of water as a waterbath to melt your beeswax. Put the wax in a small can or something easy to work with.
Pop the the ends on, and then pour plenty of wax in. Cork it and while the horn is still hot, swish it around, end to end and all around.
Pull the cork and if no wax comes out, pour some more in, cork it and drop in the hot water for a second or two, and swish it around again.
Pour out the excess and that should be it.

Now as I think more on it, and I am just throwing this out there for all to kick around, maybe you should get an empty tuna can, melt the wax in there initially, and put your end plugs in there to soak up wax. Then plug them into the horn, and then pour wax into the corkhole. That should defiinitly seal the ends, and between the wax, the waist, and tight fit make it leak proof.

I am really looking forward to seeing this project. Maybe, if you have the inclination you might document the process.

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
We Build a Pirogue!

[The Original Griz]

I use beeswax on all my horns, powder or rum, or salt horns. I would caution against using oak, oak is extremely porous and will allow water in. The beeswax will seal it from the inside, but the pores on the outside will still take on water. Cut a strip of 3/4" square oak about 4 " long, stick it in water and blow on the other end and you will get bubbles in the water. But that is just my .02 cents
Maybe consider maple or cherry or a fruit wood, apple possibly. use a tight grain wood, even walnut would be a good choice.

[Habu]

When I make a rum horn, I tend to use aged horn that has aired out for several years; this avoids some of the issues with odor and funny tastes.  I use brewers pitch for a liner, but plan for leakage in the seal at some point.

End woods: I usually use poplar as it imparts no taste to the contents.  Pine works fine, but here again I tend to use aged wood rather than freshly-cut stuff that still has a lot of aromatics.  I just don't like the smell mixing with the rum.  Oak is a mixed bag.  As Gris has said, some oaks (red oaks) are porous and can allow leaks; white oak works very well as it is not porous (and I have tons of the stuff).  Maple works.  I've always wanted to use apple but never gotten around to it.  I've always avoided walnut in this application due to concerns about the juglones in the wood somehow leaching into the rum.

Of the originals I've examined (all two of them), one used poplar and the other was pine.

Jim

[LURCHWV@BJS]

Thank you Gentleman,

  I  will be using beeswax since I have twelve pounds of it.  Was going to start selling it, but the shipping costs more than the wax.  Who'd want to mess with it?

Ill just wait till I'm going somewhere let people know I'll have it in advance and go from there.

Thanx again

  Rich
(I know you don't spell thanks with an x)

[Rasch Chronicles]

Rich,

Ummm, you talking about the rum, or the beeswax....

 

Albert