HORN HELP

[PIKELAKE]

I have slight problem with a horn. In my attempt to color the body a little using rit dye in hot water, Ive found a small leak. The leak appeared in one of the flats on the throat. It is an ever so small slice about a 1\4 inch long. I found it with a dental explorer. I was thinking may be a little super duper glue forced into the crack. It is just so small. It is too nice a horn to just hang on the wall. It would be tough to patch because it is right against the shoulder of the horn body. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Welcome to the club.  I have drilled through the sides of more horns than I care to remember. 

Super glue will work fine.  You should have no problems at all.  Or, you can give it an authentic repair.  Wrap it in leather, with some wire, or sew it.  Make it look nice and rustic.

From what I am reading though if you did not find it until you had it in water it is barely there.  If it is for you, put some glue in it and TELL NO ONE.  If they notice,then they are standing too close.  Tell them to back up.

If you are going to make it to sell it, honesty is the best policy.  But if it is for your use, use away.

Coryjoe

[Tim Crosby]

 Is the base in? If not put in a patch from the inside, a cut off section of horn works well.

 Tim C.

[PIKELAKE]

 Having looked at this horn in every way, I think I'll try the glue. The split is like a paper cut.  I'll widen it a bit to get the glue down in there. Coryjoe' this horn is mine I''ll not try to sell it. The wrap repair maybe overkill for such a small tear.  Tim, the plug is in the horn to stay so a patch from the inside is not an option.  I'll glue it and if that does not work it will look good hanging on the wall.     Thanks Fella's for the advice

[rich pierce]

Cracks get worse with aging in my experience.  They are a bane, a curse! 
I favor major aggressive therapy.

[Randy Hedden]

First of all, what you described doesn't sound like a crack, but rather a place where you slightly broke through when filing the profile of the throat of the horn.  I envision this "Crack" as running at 90 degrees to the length of the horn? If this is the case I think I would just work some epoxy into the "crack" and file any excess off the horn after the epoxy dries. If it was an honest to goodness crack running with the length of the horn you would have to do something different. You may have to redye the spout/throat area of the horn.  Epoxy will stay put if you are just dyeing with Rit and hot water.  However, don't use hide glue or white glue because they will dissolve in boiling water.

I believe that gluing up the small void is the best option and if the epoxy glue does not color then just rub the area with an appropriate color marker.  You could also put on a heavy coat of artist's black oil paint at the edge where the crack is and all the way around the horn against that shoulder.  Wipe off any excess and then let it dry. The oil paint will conceal the epoxy repair and just look like the regular grunge that builds up in recesses on horns.  The repair should be almost invisible.

Randy Hedden

[PIKELAKE]

Rich, it seems the older I get the more cracks come into play.

Randy, the crack does follow the length of the horn. The horn is still pretty thick in this area, maybe I dropped it . I will just glue it, and if I'm real careful, it should'nt be too obvious. Thanks again.

[acorn20]

If you're a little ambitious, your may want to try this repair.  I saw a repair to a horn years ago down in the Eagle Museum in Strasburg, PA.  While drilling the spout, the hornmaker got a little close to the horn's outside curved edge and as he was filing, he managed to file a small hole in it.  His repair entailed the use of a dovetailed patch, installed similarly to the way a barrel tenon would be dovetailed in the barrel.  It looked like he dovetailed a piece of horn in place and then filed it to match the adjacent contours.  It was quite nicely fitted.

I, too, have a horn awaiting some sort of repair of the same nature.  I'd like to try this type of repair to my horn but haven't mustered up the courage.

Dan