Some Southern horns had tips made of two pieces, usually of deer antler. Probably because finding one piece large enough for a tip was/is difficult, depending on the size of the tip needed.
I start out with a couple of pieces one for the actual tip and one for the collar or part that is actually attached to the horn. Drill a ¼” hole in both and turn them to rough shape on a mandrel. The collar will be drilled out at both ends, one for the horn to fit in and the other for the tip. So pick a drill size that will work for what you have. I used 17/32 for both. Don’t drill all the way through, you will need to keep a portion of the ¼” hole so when it goes back on the mandrel it will have some support, slide a couple of bushings up inside it for support. The holes only need to be 5/16 to 3/8” or so deep, just enough to get your pins/pegs in. Put the actual tip back on the lathe and turn it to fit the collar tightly. Once that is done put both pieces back on the lathe and finish shaping them. I do them separately.
Once you have them to shape and sanded. All that’s left is to pin them together, three will do, on this one I used five. Before pinning I run a reamer in both ends of the tip and ream out the hole in the collar between the two large holes.
To fit it to the horn, using a hacksaw or whatever you are comfortable with, cut a line around the horn tip at the depth of the countersunk hole in the collar. Remove horn until the tip fits. It may help to put a witness mark on the horn and the tip, put some sort of color inside the tip , replace the tip in the same spot based on the marks each time and just take off the marked spots until it fits. Fitting the tip to the horn takes less time than it does to type this. Once it is fitting shape the horn up from the base so it has a nice tapper towards the tip. Three pins will work to hold the tip on, it needs to fit tight, just be careful and don’t force it on or the collar may crack.
Sorry about the quality of the last couple of pics. The last is a pic of an original.
Tim C.
