Boiling water, hot oil, or heat gun for horn?

[rich pierce]

What’s your favorite method for heating horn to make it pliable for fitting the butt plug to a form?  I used a heat gun last night for first time. Seemed ok but slow careful work.

[Eseabee1]

I was lard for heating up my horns.  I seem to get better results. Now if I need to just heat up a band, or something quick I will use my heat gun.

[JBJ]

I have found boiling water to work fine for me. Conservative, as you can only get the water but so hot and I am less apt to get carried away with temperature and cause problems.
J.B.

[Top Jaw]

I don’t use Boiling water unless the horn is already basically round, because it only gets to 212°. Horn needs to get to 325-350 to permanently change its memory.  I have used a heat gun for horns that didn’t need a whole lot of rounding. I have also put them in the oven on a damp towel and a cookie sheet at 350 for the same purpose.

However, if they are more oval shaped, and need more adjustment, hot oil (or lard) is your best bet in my opinion.  Sometimes I have even sized horns twice that were really stubbornly oval. A “presizing” before I take the body or ridge thickness out - before final sizing.  It’s best to drill the pour hole in the tip first to let air escape as you dip the horn base in the oil. 

A good sizer is also important. I prefer those that are a little more bullet shaped for more oval horns- as they will go up inside the horn farther, without leaving a noticeable bulge in the sides after heating.   There is a sweet spot in heating the horn in oil to get it hot enough, but not overly hot and fry it.  I dip and swirl it in 5 second intervals until its soft enough, but not cooked.  You can also dunk a portion of the horn that is thicker for a few seconds first before putting the rest of the horn in the oil.  Wash with Dawn when your done.  Leave it on the sizer when your not working on it.  My lessons learned on the topic, FWIW.

A pic of a more oval horn that was rounded up as described.

[Tim Crosby]

 Never used lard, thought about it but water has always worked for me no matter what the shape to start. I have used a heat gun when coloring a horn with AF or to open the grain and get the stain in rather than on. Besides I do a lot of wood working and I'm pretty messy so I don't need any extra stuff spilled/dripped/splashed all over the place.

   Tim

[Clowdis]

How do you get the lard or oil out of the inside so it doesn't foul the powder?

[Beaverman]

I use Crisco, 325 degrees, always have, always will, the good thing about Crisco or lard is it solidifies when when cooled down in my fry daddy and stores without a chance of spilling

[Eseabee1]

How do you get the lard or oil out of the inside so it doesn't foul the powder?

I just wipe it out then before putting the horn together I always wipe down the inside and outside of the horn with denatured alcohol. 

[Beaverman]

How do you get the lard or oil out of the inside so it doesn't foul the powder?

I just wipe it out then before putting the horn together I always wipe down the inside and outside of the horn with denatured alcohol.

What Ed said, but I usually wash it with warm water and dish soap first

[Nordnecker]

FWIW- The last horn I made I let the oil get too hot. The horn moved easily but sort of crystalized afterwards. I ruined it and threw it away. The oil stunk so bad I tossed the pot and everything. Yuck.

[John Proud]

If I am doing one or two horns I always use a heat gun. When I am doing a batch of small flat horns I use a fry pot with lard. No matter how careful I am, there is always a mess to clean up in the shop. Throw the whole batch of lard cover horns in a bucket with warm water and soap to clean them up.

[Longshot]

Boiling water and repeated testing has always served me well, regardless of horn thickness, density or shape.  Heat gun would be a second choice.  An oven experiment was a disaster. 
Top Jaw's suggestion about easing the inside shoulder of the sizing plug is sound advice.

[Mike from OK]

I have nowhere near the level of experience as some of the others posting here... But I use vegetable oil heated in a pan on a Coleman stove.

I will say, accept that at some point you're going to ruin a few. My first horn went off without a hitch, worked perfectly. But later attempts, not so well. Horns with thicker walls seem to be more troublesome... So some thinning might be recommended. And some horns, for whatever reason, are just more stubborn than others.

If I worked horn often I might be better at it. But no more than I do it I tend to forget what I learn and each attempt is another learning experience.

Mike

[T.C.Albert]

Horns for carving on water, horn not to be carved on oil at 325.
Tim A