Old horn

[Kary]

 I picked this up at the local flea market/ coon dog trials this weekend. The base plug had shrunk some, Oddly enough the pour spout wasn’t completely drilled though either and it has 5 small holes drilled on the bottom curve in a row , spaced evenly apart.  I’m going to finish it off as a powder horn even though it seems that not what’s its intentions originally were.

[Kary]

I’ll probably secure the pour spout end of the strap with a staple...

[rich pierce]

Nice size and shape. Good find!

[Kary]

Thanks Rich! You think a staple near the pour spout would be the best way for a strap attachment? I really really don’t want to go messing with the shape and architecture of this horn.

[rich pierce]

I think a staple is definitely the way to go with that shape horn.

[Kary]

Thumbs up! Your input is appreciated sir!

[Panzerschwein]

Nice! A bee’s wax, pressed and gently melted into the holes, will seal up a horn nicely.

[Kary]

I’m thinking about somthing a little more permanent. I have kicked around the idea of toothpicks epoxied in the small holes, or possibly mixing up epoxy and adding some horn dust, when the mixture is drying to the point I can roll it up into small balls I could then press that into the holes. Just for the record we are talking about 4 or 5 small holes about the diameter of the smaller end of a tapered, round toothpick. So the holes are fairly small and should be no issue to fill and make look “ right”.
Thanks again,
Kary

[Tim Crosby]

 Couple questions: Got a Pic of the holes? How is the base held in? If the spout wasn't drilled all the way through how far in does it go? Obviously not used as a powder horn, I wonder what it was used for?

    Tim

[Kary]

I’ll take some photos later of the holes, Tim, the pour spout hole was drilled about 3 inches in, and then it bottomed out. The base plug was/ is held in by what looks like tooth picks or locust thorns,at least that’s the shape of them. the deterioration is bad enough I can’t really tell exactly what they are.
My best guess about this horn; the builder started it as a horn, then realized he lacked the tools to drill or burn through the spout, it doesn’t have a way to secure a strap toward the spout.. so maybe the builder gave up on it and had planned on finishing the drilling process later and forgot about it never finishing it completley?
At present, I’ve burnt the pour spout hole completely through and have redone the base plug and secured it with wooded tooth picks, I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to attach a wire to the horn body to secure my strap. Also not 100 percent sure how I will fill in those pesky 5 tiny holes to make invisible.

[Kary]

There are 5 holes in all, spaced evenly apart.

[Tim Crosby]

 Wonder if it was on a display of some sort. You could drill those holes out to a size that would fit a round tooth pick, clip the end off, sand it smooth, put a little glue on it and push it in even with the surface then wipe it off with a wet towel.
 As for a way to retain the strap a horn ring would look good, the staple is a good idea but it may not hold unless you cut some barbs on the legs, push it in then pull it out to set them.

  Tim

[Shreckmeister]

I’d go with the epoxy horn dust method. It works well

[Kary]

Well after working on it several times to open the throat of the horn, FINALLY... success! I used a staple  to hold the strap in place. I also epoxied the base plug and replaced the nails that were missing with new ones, then I sealed up the base plug with bees wax.... then I restained the base plug and polished it all up... It turned out pretty nice over all.

[Tim Crosby]

 Nice job, looks good.

   Tim

[Kary]

Thanks Tim, your input and so forth is and was much appreceiated.

[2 shots]

 hi, i have an old horn with brass tacks down the length of the bottom edge , maybe thats what the small holes were for   ?