Advise on wedding band and spout thickness

[Blackthorn]

I am working on this horn and have shaped out the spout and wedding bands.  I’m not sure if they are too large.  Should I make them in a tighter diameter by filing them down and rounding them over again?

[JH Ehlers]

Hello Blackthorn, I am by no means a professional horn maker, just some of my thoughts. Google metmuseum powder horn, look at horns on contemporary makers blog or books etc. There are many pictures online. I am assuming yours is a f&i period horn. Copy what you see. The spouts are slim, one horn at met museum has a piece broken from the tip and you can see how thin it is.

[Tim Crosby]

  It is kind of hard to tell from the Pic but it looks to me like the horn itself could be slimmed down some. If you decide to just leave the rings and very tip as they are for now, they can be trimmed down to later. You see originals with square edges as well as rounded even at the step down from the body, some of that may come from age/use. One thing I have found is that if you leave the inter rings where the strap will go square it makes it easier to keep the strap in place. If rounded the strap may slide off.
 Your proportions on what you have look right just needs to be thinned. Looks like you are headed to a good looking horn. Can you post a Pic where the horn is farther away, laying on a table maybe?

   Thanks, Tim C.

[John Proud]

I like the spout reduced to about .550-.600 before I start the engrail line or "rings". The entire horn is shaped to flow evenly to that spout dimension before I start the spout"architecture".
I hope this is of some help.

And where did you get that reamer of the work bench? I can use a new one if I can find the taper I like. I taper all my spout holes.

John

[Blackthorn]

Photos as requested by Mr Crosby.

[Blackthorn]

I like the spout reduced to about .550-.600 before I start the engrail line or "rings". The entire horn is shaped to flow evenly to that spout dimension before I start the spout"architecture".
I hope this is of some help.

And where did you get that reamer of the work bench? I can use a new one if I can find the taper I like. I taper all my spout holes.

John

I bought that at a flea market 20 years ago.  It has served me well on many projects.

[bluenoser]

That looks like a chassis or hole punch reamer. You might also look into violin peg hole reamers, which have a more gradual taper.  I have both and believe the violin reamer might be the better choice.

[JH Ehlers]

salut au monde walt whitman

[Tim Crosby]

 Based on the new Pix and depending on the thickness of the walls at the neck it looks like you can take quite a bit off between the engrailing step, the strap bands and the tip itself. The tip itself looks rather large/wide. Think about it size wise if you were going to use the horn to prime a pan, would it fit the space given. Of course you could stop where you are. Just MTCW

  Tim   

[Jerry V Lape]

I tend to be a bit wary of a thin tip.  I like it to be strong enough that sticking the stopper back into a tapered hole a little too hard can split the horn.  So a  little thicker is better than too thin.   

[Tim Crosby]

 I try and taper stoppers and ream holes just enough to to get the stopper to stay and that it fits all the way down to the tip or just leave it straight but a little long. That was after I was at a show and had a guy pop a stopper with the palm of his hand, I heard it crack. Live and learn...

   Tim

[Blackthorn]

Well gentlemen thank you for all your advise.   I was hesitant to slim down the neck as I thought the wall of the horn was pretty thin.  I came to the conclusion so what? I’m sure going through will happen sometime on a build.
I’m not finished with this one but need to take a break to finish up some other things I’ve been working on.  Again thank you for the guidance.   

[Tim Crosby]

 It doesn't take much to make a difference and usually in that area you have a lot to work with. That's looking good.

   Tim