Horn making advice

[Larry Pletcher]

This morning I turned a wooden plug to use in shaping the end of my horns.  I'm using Scott Sibley's method of using peanut oil to heat the horn.  I took the oil to 360 and tried the horn for 5-6 seconds - then 5-6 seconds more.  That seemed to be enough.  The wood plug did a pretty good job of shaping the end. 

Now I'm not sure how long to leave the plug in the horn.  Scott just says to remove the plug when it cools.  Any suggestions?  Also the plug seems pretty tight in the horn.  Will it be a problem to remove?  Any thoughts before I mess up and do something dumb? 

Regards,
Pletch

[Randy Hedden]

Larry,

I assume you have already drilled the spout hole? At least you should have. I take a sturdy length of wire and put it through the spout and knock the former plug out from the inside. Sometimes I have to bend the wire rod a little. If you haven't already drilled the spout hole then just clamp onto the former with your vise and wiggle the horn off the plug.

You have to leave the former in the horn until it cools down. I often leave the former plug in for several hours to a whole day. This length of time is not really necessary, but I am usually working on two or three horns at a time and just leave the plugs in until I get around to working on them.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

[Larry Pletcher]

Larry,

I assume you have already drilled the spout hole? At least you should have. I take a sturdy length of wire and put it through the spout and knock the former plug out from the inside. Sometimes I have to bend the wire rod a little. If you haven't already drilled the spout hole then just clamp onto the former with your vise and wiggle the horn off the plug.

You have to leave the former in the horn until it cools down. I often leave the former plug in for several hours to a whole day. This length of time is not really necessary, but I am usually working on two or three horns at a time and just leave the plugs in until I get around to working on them.
Randy Hedden
www.harddogrifles.com

HI Randy,
I answered some of my own questions by trial and error.  I had drilled the spout and had worked the panels down before working the large end.  It wasn't hard to get the plug.  I smacked the plug with a gloved hand a couple of directions and it came out fine.  The first one was fairly thin in one spot.  After removing the plug I took a scrapper and thinned a thicker spot to get a more uniform thickness and than reheated it.  This time I held the thicker part in the oil longer than the thin part.  It worked pretty well. 

After it cooled I heated the other horn.  It had a more uniform wall thickness.  It took longer to get it heated through, but when the plug went in, if fit tight all the way around.  I suspect that it would be a good one for a turned plug.  This one will cool more slowly, so I'll leave the plug in for a couple of hours.

I decided to take pics of the process.  I think I could make a tutorial for  my web site.  I'm been looking for something like this to add to my "tips and tricks" page.

[Elnathan]

For reference next time, I usually drill a couple holes and loop a piece of thin rope through them as a handle before using them. At first, I just drilled a single hole and kotted the rope, but ended that practice after the knot slipped and I ended up cutting out the plug - drilled through the center and filed it away towards the edges - while nursing a swollen lip.

[Nate McKenzie]

I like to put a large metal loop like for a door hook in my former plug. Then just put a rope through it and give her a yank.