DORNS HORN (Attention Doran, Do Not Open!!!)

[Frozen Run]

Ok, good, now that we're safe from his prying eyes we can discuss the horn I'm making him. Maybe he'll take a peek, but I thought it would be interesting to do a live(+/-) powder horn montage on the creative process. It's easy to pat yourself on the back after the fact, but it's a whole lot different when you're in the heat of the battle and things aren't going your way. If things go wrong then I've got some slick ways of getting out of trouble, if things go really wrong then I will start begging people for help, anything past that and this whole thread is getting memory holed.

I'm basing this horn off of this really greasy original with an out of proportion faceted tip and an out of proportion faceted neck so I needed to pick out a horn from my box of dog chews that has a lot of meat on it...

perhaps I should have gotten greedier with the tip? A number of months ago I blew through the sides of probably my best 2 horns because I got greedy drilling the tip. Hard to say if this'll come back to bite me later on...
 


The tip had a very obnoxious delamination that went from the tip all the way to the neck I had to rasp through, fortunately I had the material to do so. The sharpie lines and duct tape are there to map out my indecisiveness. You have the golden mean, and an out of proportion line more inline with the original, and you have the limitations of the horn and somewhere in there is the correct answer.   
 


Here's about where I call it for now. Hole drilled, roughed out somewhat, and base heated and shaping cone in. The base has a little bit of a kicked out and jaunty look that I like, probably not optimal for the horn, but neat so I'll see if that can be maintained later on when it gets to shaping the base plug. It has roughly the proportions and weight of a bowling pin so a colossal amount of material still needs to be removed prior to shaping any finer details. 

[Frozen Run]

I went down in my shop to review my previous night's work and discovered a couple of things I had overlooked originally.

Setback 1: The horn kind of wants to be a left hand carry.
     Problem: Doran kind of wants a right hand carry horn.
          Solution paths:
               a. convince Doran he wants a left hand carry horn.
                b. convince the horn it wants to be a right hand carry horn.

Setback 2: Large unsightly flat spot in thin area in body.
     Problem: Cosmetic.
          Solution paths:
               a. apply heat, shape out with wood dowel.
                b. rivet plate and engrave: act like it's no big deal when complimented.

Well, there's nothing really I can do about it now except charge forward and see how things unravel. Even without these preliminary issues, I'm still not entirely convinced this is a viable horn until I'm able to remove a lot more material from it.

[Eric Kettenburg]

Might win a "most interesting thread title" award. 

[Frozen Run]

addendum: By viable I mean not vulgar. The white whale of any horner.

[Frozen Run]

                                                                                                                                    INTERMISSION



So I exposed a tiny fissure that after doing some exploratory work on with a razor turned out to be a gigantic cavity that compromised the entire horn:










Great news! That just solved both of my issues. When life hands you lemons, ask it for a bag. Also, I learned what makes for a bad horn so this is a win all around. Undeterred I discarded the one horn and got to work tuning up a little colonial I've had on the back burner waiting to be finished...but...plot twist...that little horn ain't Dorns, that little horn is yours! Who can I mean? Will Doran ever get his horn? Will a horn even get made in this thread? Stay tuned to find out.

[Frozen Run]

So my computer bricked out last night and I vowed that I would not buy another one until Doran has his horn. I picked out a more suitable horn, drilled the spout, got some shaping in, and rounded the base. Right around that time I noticed some cracks that had formed:



The two on the right are cosmetic, I'll dress them out with a Swiss file and turn them into character, the second one from the left won't go lower than the plug so I'll do some nails or a small staple or a metal patch.

The one on the left is a problem so any advice on it would be appreciated...I suspect I will need to acraglass the Crack and cinch shut with a large hose clamp. Once it sets, I can do a staple through the horn and a second through the horn and plug?






I don't have the material to go after my original idea but I like this one better. A Dutch hat tip and rifled facets. Still have a bunch of shaping to do to clean up and define everything.


I golden meaned the horn and the proportions didn't sit well so I free handed a shallow line to bring the neck back. Not sure what to do with that space, may just use it to bring the facets back a little more and blend them off into the body.

[Tim Crosby]

 "The one on the left is a problem so any advice on it would be appreciated...I suspect I will need to acraglass the Crack and cinch shut with a large hose clamp. Once it sets, I can do a staple through the horn and a second through the horn and plug?"

  I think you can cut those cracks out by shortening the horn. The staple idea is good but the area above the staple may split even more. Once you get the staple on, one through the horn and into the  butt thin out some glue, plane old "Tightbond" will work pour it down the spout and blow in the horn. This will force some glue into the crack on the inside and help seal the butt.
 As for the "Golden Mean" forget about it, your eye will tell you what looks right and is quicker, one step out of the way.
 Looks good so far, do you want your panels to have a twist in them like the Pic?

  Tim

[Frozen Run]

Thank you, Tim, that is a great idea, if I shorten the horn just a tiny bit then any cracks will just be over the plug and I can basically treat them as a decorative issue.

Yes, the panels are designed with a twist in them. Instead of drawing out my lines, I put a dot on either side and connected each point to the next one over. I'm certain I've seen this done on an original in a book or article somewhere, though I don't know if it was at all common or an anomaly? Worst case scenario, I've seen some really freaky stuff on originals and this wouldn't be outside the realm of possibilities I believe? It seems like the rule in horn building is there are no rules, if you can dream it up you can do it.

[Frozen Run]

Also, the plan I concocted last night before passing out is I'm going to draw back and blend out the panels to the line, then later on I'm going to tie them together with a series of wiggle arches.

Hornsmithing is pretty addictive.

[Frozen Run]

I took the horn off the shaping cone and examined the cracks a little closer. The two on the right were surface area so I dressed them out entirely. The second one from the left the crack doesn't go all the way to the core so I dressed that off with a file as well. The wall is a little thin there but it'll be 100 percent supported by base plug and titebond so I'm not too concerned. I may do something neat with that area later on.

The bigger problem was the one on the left. Whether I had missed it earlier or it was a new formation, a second nasty little crack branched off from it. I tried squeezing the horn a little to simulate a hose clamp before setting it up but the horn wouldn't budge so I didn't want to risk the hose clamp idea. Fortunately, it didn't go into the horn as far down as it originally appeared so I just dressed the whole area out with a file to look like a blow out. This got rid of the cracks entirely. I used a tiny Swiss rat tail to round out the little dip that was left at the bottom. This whole area will be completely supported by base plug and titebond.

Now, I don't want to be known as the square nail blow out repair guy, but the area is just too good to leave alone so I've got some ideas rolling around but that'll have to wait...

[Tim Crosby]

 This horn had a crack in it so I used this design and cut it out.

   Tim

 

[Frozen Run]

Cool beans, Tim! Is that a metal applied tip with an old sewing thimble at the end? I'm not quite picking up the detail very well on my phone. I saw an antique the other day from a collector that had a sheet metal applied tip with a metal eyelet for the strap keeper. It was either copper or brass. Had a rivet high on the seem and solder down towards the tip.

[Frozen Run]

The spot I dressed down started to crack a little when I was fitting the base plug so I just cut out and around the whole cursed area. Got the plug to fit below the cut out area, gobs of titebond, started pounding in tacks, and added a toothpick for good measure. I them glued on and tacked some horn flakes.

[Tim Crosby]

Cool beans, Tim! Is that a metal applied tip with an old sewing thimble at the end? I'm not quite picking up the detail very well on my phone. I saw an antique the other day from a collector that had a sheet metal applied tip with a metal eyelet for the strap keeper. It was either copper or brass. Had a rivet high on the seem and solder down towards the tip.

 Correct, metal repair and thimble.

    Tim

[Tim Crosby]

The spot I dressed down started to crack a little when I was fitting the base plug so I just cut out and around the whole cursed area. Got the plug to fit below the cut out area, gobs of titebond, started pounding in tacks, and added a toothpick for good measure. I them glued on and tacked some horn flakes.

 One question, now that the base is in how are you going to hold the horn to work on it? The base is one of the last steps I do.

   Tim

[Frozen Run]

The spot I dressed down started to crack a little when I was fitting the base plug so I just cut out and around the whole cursed area. Got the plug to fit below the cut out area, gobs of titebond, started pounding in tacks, and added a toothpick for good measure. I them glued on and tacked some horn flakes.

 One question, now that the base is in how are you going to hold the horn to work on it? The base is one of the last steps I do.

   Tim

We had attached the base very early in Clint's class, much earlier than he would normally, to accommodate for the class schedule and it ended up working great for me so I continued doing it that way. I like the extra strength it gives the horn and helps in final shaping. I have this little doodad I made that works wonders so I don't need the opening.



So I use your leather wrapped stakes to debark and rough shape the horn. I also have an iron palm bag filled with rice and beans and tight wrapped heavily in duct tape on a poundo board if need be, that I also add a chamois rice bag I stitched up (grippy side out) to scrimshaw on. The chamois bag idea I learnt from a journeyman horner. But the real workhorse of my shop is that 1.5 thick pine board with the holes cut out of it. I vise it up and stick the horn into the appropriate slot, whichever one it doesn't rattle around in and I turn it one way with my hand and push the rasp the other way with my other hand. I cut the corners out a bit and chamfered the edges so that if I'm doing something flat I can give the horn a slight bend and it locks it up firm for doing facets or whatever. How I figured to do that was I was at Phil's horn class prior to Clint's and we cut out our base plugs but we used coping saws there so I vised up my scrap piece with the big hole cut out of it and it really worked well so I got home and made that thing up. The holes range from about an inch to 2.5 inches. How I cut those 45s or so leading up to the holes helps not getting caught up and banging into corners and also allows you to go from a narrow part of a horn to a wider part without having to re index it as often.

Included on the chamous bag is a little probe I made out of a lawn flag. I put a tiny bend in it around an eighth or so so it fits up horn spouts. Using that along with various thickness flashlights dropped into the base are great for trying to figure out how thick your horn is.

This horn is very thin. There will be no step behind the facets as there's hardly any material there for anything other than the most wishy washy of steps. So instead I'll keep the line that's their and about an eighth or so I'll cut another line. And arches.

[Tim Crosby]

 I find that the "leather wrapped stake" supports the horn just fine and gives you two hands to work with. Look forward to seeing the finished horn.

    Tim 

[Frozen Run]

I contacted the future recipient of that small colonial and spent the night scrimshawing the heck out of it. I figured I'd get it ready so I can finish both horns at the same time. That horn will get it's own thread after the new owner receives it and won't be shown until then.

[Frozen Run]

I spent the night shaping it out some more. The base plug needed to be a low dome because of how deep it needed to go. The neck idea wasn't working out so I scrapped it. There wasn't enough material to define anything or create transitions making it look all wishy washy. I hate wishy washy. So I dressed it out with a rasp. Not entirely, I left the remnant of something there because I thought it better than nothing.



It's going to need staple like the last one, for the same reasons, and anything other than a staple in the base plug is going to feel forced.

Even though this should build up into a nice horn as it sits, creatively it has left me unfulfilled. A different tip and brass tacks from the last horn. I think my only remedy is to absolutely lose my mind scrimshawing it...

[Frozen Run]

Looking through my Dresslar book for scrimshawing ideas and realized I really missed the boat on some creative shaping opportunities.  Going to try and rectify that later on tomorrow maybe.

[Frozen Run]

I put a modest step down in the neck and I'm glad I did because this horn really needed it. I still need to dress it up a bit more and clean the base plug up a bit, bit it's about ready for scrimshawing and staples. I can't quite narrow it down though so I'm sitting on it until an idea grabs me.



In the mean time, I was compelled to make some day horns so I roughed out a horn for Dave Rase and one for Brent Bailey. Both of these horns I have dialed in my mind what I want them to be.

[Bob Gerard]

There are more than one ways to skin a cat.
I do my base plugs first also. I support the horn for working it by inserting the nozzle hole in a 1/4” diameter steel bar. After nearly 70 horns I have had good results this way. Your mileage may vary.
Here’s a small one I just finished (sans engraving). You can see I have removed a lot of material from the neck and shaped the spout  without any issues. The trick is to use the right amount of pressure and support with your hand.

[Frozen Run]

The 1/4 rod is a great idea, it also helps in referencing center on your tip so you don't shape it unbalanced. That is what the drilled out hole in my block is for, I don't use it much though because I'm too chicken, always worried about cranking down and snapping the tip off.

[Bob Gerard]

Here’s one I started yesterday to show you how it holds on the rod. It is inserted about 2” into the spout area. If your rasps and files are sharp and you support the horn with your free hand the horn should do fine.

[Frozen Run]

Chapter 5: A Fresh Start On an Old Horn.

Well, not that old really:



So I bought this janky horn off a trade blanket at a rendezvous for 20 bucks a few months back. Rattle can finish and upholstery tacks holding in a doorknob base. I had 20 bucks so whatever. Anyways, I take it back to camp to show everyone and all but got laughed off the property. The tip was shaped in a certain rude fashion which I had somehow missed up until that point. So I pondered it for awhile and really had nothing but to cut to the chase here I dressed the tip back to a ring but got a little heavy handed with the rasp and took off too much and a crack started to form. That was awhile back. So in the process of shaping out Dave and Brent's horns I decided to work on that other horn.

I figure I'm going to need to do an applied tip so I dressed the ring off, pried open the crack and forced titebond into it, then tightened with a hose clamp. Next to the horn is the remnants of a base plug I was fitting prior to learning Clint's snazzy way of doing it. So I'm scrapping the old base plug, and rounded it in preparation for a proper one. The holes for the tacks were drilled wildly large, like the guy only had one good bit and ran with it, and some of them are drilled one on top of the other. It was suggested that I just cut it off and start anew but I'm just going to run with it and see where it takes me.

Also, I relieved a little slot on the rim to accept a brass patch. An idea I instantly hated when I did it a bunch of months back but will see it through anyways.

Also, perceptive viewers will have noticed the date already carved on the doorknob. This just goes to prove my theory that no doorknobs were made after 1776.