Sealing a horn from inside!!

[Roger Fisher]

If a recall correctly years ago there were articles or article describing the repair or sealing of cracked powder horns or maybe the sealing of the large plug  from the inside via pouring melted wax or some such into the pouring end of the horn and schlossing it around til it became firm and thereby sealing the leak.  Anybody comment on this or was I in to the jug at the time...

[Jack Hubbard]

I know of what you are asking but I cannot recall the name of it....Works just like you said....Dave Fortner would know.....I think

[SCLoyalist]

Brewer's pitch?

[Warner]

Its commonly called water glass.
I'll have to go down to the workshop to look at the bottle for the correct name.I picked it up at Friendship from Eders [?]
 I'm told you can get it at an older drug store.Doubt if a big box drug shop would have it

[The Original Griz]

I seal all my horn with beeswax just like you described in your post. I NEVER glue the end cap on, I only use wooden pins and beeswax poured in, swirled around, and dumped back out. The horn is now sealed from the inside out...

[Habu]

I stopped using beeswax on my own horns the day I had one get too hot.  That horn was plaqued with chunks of wax and powder clogging the spout for quite some time.  I still sometimes use wax on horns made for others.  Instead of pouring it in and swirling it around, I put it in place like putty, and heat the horn from the outside with a heat gun. 

My horns tend to be sealed with pine pitch.  It seals the horn and serves as an adhesive.  I've repaired one horn by wrapping it with some tarred twine I got from a sail supply company, then heating it with the heat gun to melt the tar.  That one sealed tight and held up well, eventually being "retired" by a puppy with a horn-chewing problem.  (Only later did I consider that wrapping a horn container of powder with an even-more-flammable material was probably not one of my better thoughts--but it was done "back in the day.") 

"Water glass"--sodium silicate--is an interesting option.  I see no reason why it wouldn't work, but I've never tried it on a horn. 

[Roger Fisher]

Ok now, this water glass it it heated to pour, how thick is it in other words is it good and 'runny' so it gets down into the large butt plug area and does it schloss nicely

[Jack Hubbard]

Water Glass....Thats it...Remembered it while I was working in the shop today.....I used it years ago....I didn't heat it....Just pored it in the horn, turned the horn so it would cover the plug, turn it so any excess would run out of the spout....Next day, scraped any that was on the spout and the horn was good....

[Longknife]

If you have trouble finding waterglass you can always get some plain old spar varnish. Just pour some in and roll the horn around then hold the horn upright and blow into it you will see the varnish come out the cracks. Then dump out the excess. Let it set in a warm place overnight or maybe a couple of days with the stopper out. Test by sucking on the spout to see if it will hold a vacuum. If it don't then do it again.... It will be water tight then....Ed

[Warner]

Its thin almost like water.
Pour it in the horn shake it around, then pour back into the bottle.
There will be enough remaining in the horn to seal it.The horn should be placed plug down so what remains will settle around the plug

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

This stuff was called egg preserver when I was a kid. Shade tree mechanics used it to stop radiator leaks!!!

[mtgraver]

I haven't put anything on my horns in years. A proper shrink fit of the horn to the plug eliminates the need for any type of goop. All are good suggestions, I had bees waxed my first Rev War canteen which was a coconut many years ago. A few years ago I needed a coconut for a project and it wasn't used so I cut it open. To my dismay was a puddle of wax that never sealed any thing just kind of stuck there. I guess it wouldn't have leaked anyway being a coconut.
Mark

[John SMOthermon]

This stuff was called egg preserver when I was a kid. Shade tree mechanics used it to stop radiator leaks!!!

What I remember the shade tree mechanics talking about was called Liquid Glass. It was used for leaking radiators and I was told it would repair cracked blocks as well. I never used the stuff.but if I recall correctly it was sold at Drug Stores? I'm not sure why...