Author Topic: Rounding the Plug  (Read 7440 times)

Offline b bogart

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Rounding the Plug
« on: February 09, 2009, 02:43:12 AM »
I am working on a horn now to kill time until rifle parts arrive. Is it necessary to round the plug? I noticed in a few reference books that the originals appear to be round, but its not really clear cut. Does it matter, or is it historically done. I am curious and to the point where its time to round or not.
Thanks for any input!
Bruce

Offline Randy Hedden

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2009, 04:25:11 AM »
Certainly commercially made powder horns made in the horn factories were formed round on the butt end.  Heating and rounding the butt end was easier and more efficient for the business. Probably most of the memory horns from the F&I and Rev War time were also rounded.

Powder horns which were made outside of any shop that had machinery could have been rounded or they could have been left in the natural shape and the plug made to fit the horn.

Some horns are just not candidates for rounding. If you take a horn that is oval in shape for it's entire length and round the butt end it will look terrible. On such horns the best bet is to shape the plug to the horn.

Randy Hedden

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Offline b bogart

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2009, 05:09:48 AM »
Thanks Randy!

Offline Tim Crosby

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2009, 07:00:48 PM »
 Bruce,
  Are you talking about rounding the horn and base plug or about doming a base plug?

Tim C.

Online Dale Halterman

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2009, 08:24:08 PM »
I have three original horns that have the plugs carved to fit the horn. At first I thought that this was the mark of a crude homemade horn, but the last I acquired has reasonably nice tip treatment that sure doesn't look homemade.

Dale H
« Last Edit: February 10, 2009, 05:02:33 PM by Dale H »

Offline b bogart

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #5 on: February 09, 2009, 11:27:11 PM »
Tim
The horn and the plug. No doming on this one. Maybe the next.
Bruce

Offline Randy Hedden

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2009, 12:40:34 AM »
I have three original horns that have the plugs carved to fit the horn. I utad at first thought that this was the mark of a crode homemade horn, but the last I acquired has resonably nice tip treatment that sure doesn't look homemade.

Dale H

Dale,

I don't think that we can always relate crudeness of a horn with the way the butt plug was fitted.  Butt plugs fitted to the horn only show that the horn was made without the benefit of a lathe.  The horns made in the horn factories in Pennsylvania had the horn rounded and a lathe turned butt plug installed.  This method of installing butt plugs was more expedient for the horn factories. This appears to be the same reason that these horns had screw tips or applied tips, expediency.  These horn factories turned out thousands upon thousands of horns from the late 18th century, 1770's-80's, and well into the 19th century. They had contracts with the federal government for thousands of horns over the time period.

I would think that most horns made by a professional horner, other than a horn factory, would also show lathe turned butt plugs and rounded horns.  If we think about making a powder horn without the aid of a lathe, the butt plug could be cut and filed to fit the horn or cut and filed round to fit a horn that has been formed round on the butt end.  If we start with a horn that is oval on the butt end then forming the butt end round just adds another operation to the horn making process.

I believe the crudeness of a powder horn with a butt plug shaped to fit the horn is most likely dependent on the talent of the maker, the tools available to the maker or the amount of time invested in making the horn.

Randy Hedden

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Offline LRB

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2009, 01:34:48 AM »
  A round plug is easily made by using a compass. It may not be perfectly round after the final fitting, but it will be round to the eye. I am not saying that fitting to the shape of the horn was not done, but I wouldn't want one that was not round. The majority of surviving horns are round. For the most part, I do think a horn done otherwise is at least, approaching  the crude level. Just my opinion.

Offline b bogart

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2009, 09:33:02 PM »
Well my work is a little crude so.... I just fit the plug to the horn.  The horn is oval for the whole length, and I don't think rounding it was an option. Opinions are good for future reference tho! Until I can improve my skills, I'll just work with what I got and enjoy it.
Thanks fellas!
Bruce

Offline LRB

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2009, 10:11:56 PM »
  Yeah, good, large, round horns are getting hard to find. If yours was oval all the way, you did about the best thing on that one.

Offline Tim Crosby

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #10 on: February 10, 2009, 10:17:43 PM »
 Bruce,
  This horn was oval all the way up, I think you  can tell it by the plug.

Tim C.



Offline b bogart

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #11 on: February 11, 2009, 12:31:56 AM »
Superb Tim!
This horn was so oval I probably could have flattened it, almost teardrop shaped. Maybe if it is starting to look decent the further I go on it I'll post it. Maybe I'll just post it and caption it "CAUTION, AVOID THIS" ;D.
It's a bit on the side too, but it'll hold more powder than I'll ever need on an outing.
Live and learn, die and forget it all.
Bruce

Tony Clark

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #12 on: February 11, 2009, 01:29:50 AM »
The horn I made to carry I put a oval shaped plug in cause it was kind of flat. It rides real nice that way, up against your body,  and I never thought it looked crude, I kinda like it that way. Regards, TC

Offline LRB

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #13 on: February 11, 2009, 01:45:44 AM »
Very nicely done!!!!

Offline Randy Hedden

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #14 on: February 11, 2009, 02:45:36 AM »
If you are handpicking your horns you can get fairly round scrimshaw quality horns, no problem. I used to order my horns 100 pair, (200 horns), at a time. So I ended up with 100 right side carry horns and 100 left side carry horns. A few of each order of 200 horns were always so oval in shape that they could not be rounded. The ones that were to oval to successfully round were/are used for other horn projects than powder horns. Probably 15-30 out of a 200 horn order were not good candidates for scrimshaw. However, when I build a "Folk Art" horn I can live with an oval horn and an oval butt plug that is fitted to the horn.

Randy Hedden

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Offline Pete G.

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Re: Rounding the Plug
« Reply #15 on: February 11, 2009, 04:07:49 AM »
200 Horns????? :o :o :o

I ordered a box of 10 and I still have a couple after almost a year