Early VA horn with antler tip

[Mark Elliott]

Here is a horn I just finished for my personal use.   It is based on the horn on page 138-9 of Jay Hopkins book.   The only real difference is that I used an antler tip.    My horn is smaller at about 16" around the curve and about 13" tip to tip.   The butt plug is about 2.5" diameter and about 1.8" high.   The tip is 2.7" long.   Six steel pins hold the butt plug.   Four steel pins hold the tip.   I stained the whole thing with aqua fortis and my standard oil stock finish.   The horn is highly translucent.   That created a problem with the stain running under the horn on the butt plug.   I probably should have stained the butt plug before installing it.   I don't normally do that though.   What do the rest of you do?

[Tim Crosby]

 Nice job Mark, I have that one marked as well. I stain and finish the butt while it is still on the lathe but with a thin well scraped horn you will still see the rim of the plug inside the horn. Did you use something to seal the plug, as in between the plug and the horn? Nice choice of horn.

  Tim

[Mark Elliott]

Tim,

I didn't seal between the butt plug and the horn with anything.   Should I have?  It is a very tight fit.   I had to heat the horn to drive in the butt plug.   I always fit them tight which I why I never thought about sealing with anything.  I did apply some oil finish to the whole horn and will put wax over that.   Is that sufficient, or should I have been doing something else?

Mark
 

[Tim Crosby]

Tim,

I didn't seal between the butt plug and the horn with anything.   Should I have?  It is a very tight fit.   I had to heat the horn to drive in the butt plug.   I always fit them tight which I why I never thought about sealing with anything.  I did apply some oil finish to the whole horn and will put wax over that.   Is that sufficient, or should I have been doing something else?

Mark

 I too try to get as tight a fit as I can before pinning but I have found that at times for some reason or another I will get a leek. So I have started wiping a thin layer of hide glue on the rim of the plug before putting it in, it is a whole lot less messy than Bees wax. I tap them in with a rubber mallet, also use it when I drive a sizer into the horn to round it. Then blow into the horn to force the glue into any voids.
 Just the way I do it I'm sure others have theirs, this just works for me.
 I like your coloring too.

  Tim

[David Rase]

Mark,
The overall horn is pleasing to look at.  I really like your spout turning.
David

[oldfireguy]

I like it.  As far as the stain running under I think it adds to the aged look.  I've never used AF on any of my horns, I've tried but just can't get it to look correct, or at least what I like.  Nice looking horn. 

[Top Jaw]

For horns with turned end caps, I have started working and dying the horn before I install the end cap. And I keep the horn on a small clay flower pot while I'm dying it in a hot dye solution, so it stays rounded for the end cap.  The hole in the pot lets it sink and I don't have to hold it under.
 
As for staining the inside of the cap when using a translucent horn, I usually do that now too.  I have found that powder dust has a way of working its way down in there anyway and finding the slightest void, it will show up more in one spot and maybe less somewhere else.  So I dye the inside now in this case.   The horn dust would be a similar look to the area you asked about on this horn, so it doesn't look out of place.  Nice work.

[Marcruger]

I have only finished two of Ron Hess' horn kits, so I am a rank amateur.

That said, I see no reason not to finish each part separately.  I think each material needs its own finishing process anyway. 

So, I finish each part, then assemble and pin, etc. 

Both horns I have done were done with Rit Dye on the horn itself, then later surface treatments.  When boiling a horn there would be no way to have the plug on there. 

I tried aqua fortis on horn pieces, but get only a pale yellow cast. 

That's what I do, but then, my opinion means little compared to real horn makers.

God Bless,   Marc