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Need advice regarding a bison horn, part 2.

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Rolf:
I've cleaned up the horn with a wood rasp, cut off the flare and sanded it to 320grit. It looks nice, except for the gauge on one side at the base. The gauge is about 1" long.
The base looks very egg shaped and parts of it very thin.



I'd like advice on these questions.

1. Is the base roundable or is it likely to crack? I plan to use hot oil.

2. What should I do with the gauge at the base?

* If the horn is roundable, I think I could sand it out after putting in the base plug. The wall is about 0.06" thick under the gauge.
* The horn is 13.5" long. I could cut  1" off the base and get rid of the gauge. I am reluctant to do this because it will reduce the diameter of the base plug.  I'd like to use a pattern for a silver filigree "slange" brooch for the base plug lid. This requires minimum 3.2" to fit.
3. How much carving dare I do? Only 1.6" of the tip is solid. The horn weighed 11.2 ounce raw and 8.2 ounces after cleaning. I've never done a bison horn before and I'm unsure how thick the walls are. I hoped to carve about 6" of the spout. 2" for a spiral shaped tip.  3" for a octagon spout with inlaid silver filigree panels (0.04" deep). 1 " for wedding bands between the sections.

4. Is this horn more thin walled and hollow than usual? It's 13.5" long, 1.6" of the tip is solid. The base is 3.4" x 3.1", circumflex 10.1". Almost 1/3 of the horns weight was removed during clean up. The rim thickness varies from 0.145" to 0.06". I was hoping for a minimum of 0.100", so I could file a ledge to mount a filigree band on.

Best regards

Rolfkt

Randy Hedden:

--- Quote from: Rolfkt on September 21, 2008, 09:03:03 PM ---
I'd like advice on these questions.

1. Is the base roundable or is it likely to crack? I plan to use hot oil.
--- End quote ---

Even though your horn is egg shaped it is not that bad and you should be able to round it. You will need to be careful in how hot the oil is and in how long you leave he horn in the oil. I heat my oil to appx. 340-350 degrees and leave the horn in the hot oil for about 15 seconds. If you leave the horn in the oil to long it will turn to a plasticy putty. 


--- Quote ---2. What should I do with the gauge at the base?
--- End quote ---

That is a tough question, but maybe, as you say, you could sand the gouge out after you have the butt plug mounted.


--- Quote ---3. How much carving dare I do? Only 1.6" of the tip is solid. The horn weighed 11.2 ounce raw and 8.2 ounces after cleaning. I've never done a bison horn before and I'm unsure how thick the walls are. I hoped to carve about 6" of the spout. 2" for a spiral shaped tip.  3" for a octagon spout with inlaid silver filigree panels (0.04" deep). 1 " for wedding bands between the sections.
--- End quote ---

Buffalo horns are generally quite thick at the tip end and even farther up the horn. You might have a problem with the octagon section because it ends half way up toward the butt end. In filing an octagon you need more thickness than if you were just to file that part round. The only way you will know is to just do it. On the other hand you could drill a small diameter hole in the area you are going to mount the silver panels just to get an idea how thick the horn is at that point. You could do this so you could later plug the horn and the silver panel will cover the hole.


--- Quote ---4. Is this horn more thin walled and hollow than usual? It's 13.5" long, 1.6" of the tip is solid. The base is 3.4" x 3.1", circumflex 10.1". Almost 1/3 of the horns weight was removed during clean up. The rim thickness varies from 0.145" to 0.06". I was hoping for a minimum of 0.100", so I could file a ledge to mount a filigree band on.
--- End quote ---

I don't know if the thickness is thin because you made it that way trying to remove the gouges or if it was just naturally thin? I have two buff horns down in my shop that I have cut the flair off and scraped smooth. the thickness of both these horns at the butt end is .125" or a bit thicker. One horn is 13" around the outside curve and I have filed it down from the tip to 6-1/2" up the horn. The depth of the filing at the top of this area is approximately .080 deep and I will probably file it even deeper before I am done. However, I don't think I could carve this area to an octagon shape. I feel sure I would file right through the horn. Just my opinion, but an octagon shape should only be attempted in the lower portions of a horn unless you have a very thick horn.

It seems to me you have two problems. First you received a horn with two fairly substantial gouges in it. The second problem is that you already have a design in mind for the horn and you only have one horn to work with that may not be good for that design.   

I guess, at this point, all you can do is try working the horn to the way you want it and if it doesn't work you can always get another horn.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

Rolf:
Thanks for your answers Randy. If you were goig to file the spouts of your horns octagon, how far up do you feel it's safe to go? As for the horn I've started, I gess I have to rethink the design.

Best regards
 
Rolfkt

Randy Hedden:

--- Quote from: Rolfkt on September 22, 2008, 08:01:12 AM ---Thanks for your answers Randy. If you were goig to file the spouts of your horns octagon, how far up do you feel it's safe to go?
Rolfkt

--- End quote ---

Rolfkt,

It is really hard to say. I really wouldn't want to try filing an octagon more than 1/3 of the length of your horn. Your original design tells me that you want your octagon area to terminate at about half way up the horn and I think you might break through the horn or at least it might be very thin at that point. Remember, you are going to have to take about 1/2" or a little more off the spout of the horn before you drill the spout hole so you are going to lose a little more in length. On most of the horns I make any significant depth of carving and shaping is done in the lower 1/3 of the horns length.

Maybe some of the board's other horn makers would like to chime in with their thoughts??

Randy Hedden

www,harddogrifles.com

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