Steel filings and making horns

[Elnathan]

I've got kind of an odd situation.

I couple years ago I started making an horn, trying out a couple little little refinements, one of which was smoothing out the transition between the horn cavity and the spout hole. After a couple different attempts, I ended up using a bit of steel wool on the end of a copper wire scrap, threaded through the spout and turned with a drill. Seemed to work ok at the time. I put the horn to the side for quite a while afterwards, and started finishing it last winter. I was almost finished, with the butt end in place and just needed to finish sand the outside and make a staple and spout plug, when I started wondering if it was possible that a tiny scrap of steel wool had gotten imbedded inside when I smoothed out the inside of the horn so long ago....I know looked inside and rinsed the horn to get any loose stuff out when I first did it, and it has been rinsed out a couple time since then, but I'm worried about the possibility of something embedded in the horn that could work itself loose over time and mix with the powder.

When I first thought of this, I put the horn aside and spent Project Time last spring and summer working on a couple other horns as well as a war club with a spike and (most recently) a couple knives. It occurred to me recently that I filed out the spike/blade for the club before I went and went and did some preliminary work on three or four future powderhorns, and that while I certainly cleaned off the bench before I switched projects, it is difficult to get every bit of steel up and theoretically at least it is possible that some stray filings found their way up into those horns when I was working on them. I've only got one vise and a patch of workbench about 18 inches square to work in, so I have to do everything at the same workstation.

I'm good at finding things to worry about, so I might be overthinking this. Still, I'd be curious to hear if anyone else has had to deal with this. I've considered using a soak in vinegar to dissolve anything that might be inside, but I don't know how that will affect the horn or it it will really work well if there is something inside. Heavy-duty magnets are another option, but I don't know if they'd actually pull an embedded bit of steel out of the horn. I could of course just cut these horns up for other things and get some new ones, but some of these are quite nice and I hate to waste them - horns that are roundable and have a nice twist are difficult to find these days.

[rich pierce]

I would be less concerned. A powder horn’s purpose is to keep powder dry and available. So I don’t think it should rust or discolor and if it dies I can’t imagine it would be very visible.

[Tim Crosby]

 I wouldn't worry about it. If it bothers you stil a piece of cloths hanger in it and see if you can snag anything. Viniger is a good thought but it will have to sit  a while to do its job. What I am have trouble understanding is what you were trying to do in the first place. You shouldn't have to do anything to the inside of the horn. Being clean is a given.

  Tim C.

[Elnathan]

Rich, what I am worried about is the possibility of a piece of steel getting embedded in the horn and then at some point down the road working loose and mixing with the powder inside, then scraping against the barrel and sparking while I'm loading the gun.

Tim,
With the first horn I was trying to ensure that the transition between the horn cavity and the spout was completely smooth, with no splinters or little steps that would keep the powder from  flowing smoothly- the idea came from a discussion with Wallace Gusler about the way original horns were shaped in that area, as Wallace thought that period horners were doing some additional work in that area. It was something of an experiment at the time, and subsequent experience suggests that well-drilled spout holes that hit the tip of the cavity more or less straight don't have problems of that kind, so probably wasted effort anyway.

The other horns I didn't do anything to the inside except jam a piece of wood up it to hold it while I cut off the tip and drilled the spout hole. I'm just a bit worried that a piece of steel filing from previous projects could have gotten on the end of that piece of wood and subsequently been embedded in the horn - seems pretty unlikely, but my shop-vac doesn't always pick up every little speck of steel so it is a theoretical possibility since at the time I wasn't checking for that kind of thing.

I think that it is unlikely that there is anything in any of the horns, but without being able to actually see up there I can't be absolutely sure and that bothers me.

[Greg Pennell]

If it bothered me that much, I think I’d get on Amazon and get the cheapest cellphone endoscope I could find. They have some really cheap ones that will fit into a .22 caliber rifle barrel...you could get a real good look-see then.

Wireless Endoscope, Dr.meter 2.0 Megapixels 1080P IP68 Waterproof Inspection Snake Camera with Semi-Rigid 3.5M (11.5ft) Cable and 6 LEDs WiFi Borescope for iOS and Android Smartphone, iPad, Tablet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QJ1RFJF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_3.VtFbPZ895J5

Greg

[Tim Crosby]

 Like I said, I wouldn't worry about it.

  Tim