My one buddy Ken's horn.

[Frozen Run]

I had a close friend pass away not too long ago and I was given one of his horn projects to finish up. Many of you would have recognized his face as he was very active at shows and shoots. Others here probably even hung garlic above their windows to ward against his presence after the sun has gone down. This was exactly the sort of ribbing he took all the time and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting choked up a little imagining him fighting back laughter as he wagged his finger at me.

This is a project I'm going to work on as the mood strikes. I'll probably tell some Ken stories (whatever few ones are appropriate for civilized society), and in the end I hope to make a horn that honors the man we all loved.

[Frozen Run]

So the plan is to save as much of the original horn work as possible. The screw in finial just needs a little dressing up. The 4 tacks need dressed up and cut back. The base plug is a bit stunted and the hole for the finial is way off center and the inside threads are almost completely gone. But it fits nice and secure so it's a good start.

The plan, tentatively, is to drill out the finial hole and plug it with a dowel. Shave off the top of the base plug and install a donor piece of wood. Turn it to shape, hollow out the bottom of the base plug, re drill and tap the finial, and install the base plug. Then likely turn into a bone tipped and banded horn. He had some sons who live down south and that may be the direction he was going with it.

I'll need to research and find out where acorn finials were prevalent before proceeding. It may have just been something he picked up at an Ace Hardware sometime back. That will complicate matters if that's the case.

[BoomStick]

I cannot say when/if threaded acorn finials were a historical thing, but the horn looks like a kit from the 70's.  I have a couple of them in different states of completion and the fit needs quite a bit of work to get it right and air tight.  Good of you to honor your friend and with a bit of effort it will make a nice horn for the family.

[Frozen Run]

Thank you Boomstick, this is great help trying to figure out the origin of this horn! I was worried the base plug and finial were hardware store items as that was Ken's no nonsense style and I'd have to get really cheeky with the design.

The horn is going to the Log Cabin Shop's museum to accommodate Ken's rocking chair that has his name  engraved on a plaque.