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The making of a powder horn.

Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 5:02 am
by Gnome!
Figured I would do a little build along on a pair of Powder horns I'm making up.

To start off with I took down the pair of large bulls horns that were hanging on the wall in the lounge room!!
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I then removed them from the mounting block they were on.
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Using a hacksaw I removed the damaged and very thin portion of the horns to be ready for sanding flat.
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Sanding down the unevenness of my cuts with 80 grit paper to get them even in flatness first, then stepping down in grades of paper from 120, 400, and finishing off with 600 grit to smooth over the edges.
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Ready for the measuring and removing of the horn tips in prep for drilling the fill/pour hole.
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Taking a peace of ti-wire insert down into the horn to find its bottoming point.
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Once the bottom point is found holding the wire to the outside and using a paint pen I marked the horn at the end of the wire where the bottom should be.
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I then used a silicone spout to put the horn tip into to make it easier to mark the horn all way around so as I have a good reference line to cut the tip from.
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Ready to cut the tips off with the hacksaw. Note: make sure that you be very light in cutting pressure when nearing the offside of the horn tip you are cutting to avoid a splinter from forming.
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Using 3 differing sized drill bits ranging from 3, 3.5 and 4.5mm.
Hold the horn and using the smallest drill bit placed as close to the center of the cut horn as possible and drill inline with the straightest part of the horn (See attachment below) and proceed carefully to drill the length (removing bit occasionally to avoid blocking the bit up) till it makes its way to the inside of the horn. Repeat the process with the next 2 drill bits.
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Not the best of pics but you can see light coming through the holes.
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Re: The making of a powder horn.

Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 5:46 am
by spaceace
nice work :D

Re: The making of a powder horn.

Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:29 am
by spaceace
here's how mine is. for some ideas ;)
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Re: The making of a powder horn.

Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:33 am
by spaceace
also, if you are looking for different valves... there are many to choose from ;)

http://www.octobercountry.com/powder-horn-valve/

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_in ... ts_id=7874

Re: The making of a powder horn.

Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:46 am
by Gnome!
Am talking to my neighbor down the road about machining up a pair of these in the size that I require ;) http://www.octobercountry.com/oc-standa ... pout-plug/

Re: The making of a powder horn.

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 11:22 pm
by Gnome!
Ordered a pair of these today and hope to have them here this time net week :)
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My neighbor can make them for me but I will be waiting some 6 - 8 weeks so I figured I would get these and modify them a lil bit to suit. :D

Re: The making of a powder horn.

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 3:31 pm
by spaceace
nice :D

Re: The making of a powder horn.

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:27 am
by Gnome!
Well the parts have arrived and will be getting a couple new hacksaw blades tomorrow as I have to take a 1/2 inch or 10 mm cut off of the tips to allow for the slightly larger peaces to be fitted but they will look the part for sure once they are installed :D

Re: The making of a powder horn.

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 4:07 am
by Gnome!
The spouts arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon so it was left till today to do the installing of them.
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Had to cut another peace off the horn tip to allow for the diameter of the spout and get the horn as close as possible to the flare/lip.
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Then it was time to drill out the hole (using 4 separate sized drill bits from 6.5 - 13 mm to get the final hole size of 1/2 inch or 13 mm) for the knurled end of the pouring spout to slip neatly into its new resting place.
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Showing the final hole size and depth.
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Glued in place with 406 Loctite .... (Note to self I should have marked the spouts flare with marking pen then filed down to shape!)
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Taped up and filing down to match the horn shape.
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Filed to shape, now to final sand them before a transfer/image is placed on them.
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Re: The making of a powder horn.

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 7:01 am
by Gnome!
Gave the horns the complete once over with varying grades of sand paper to remove the original petina, grime and spider poo!

Before.
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During
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After.
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Once wiped clean of dust, the names were transferred onto the the horns. (Special mention to my Daughter for doing this as she has way steadier hands tor this than I ever will.)
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Before being painted.
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Steady hands ;) :D
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After painting.
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Tomorrow they will sit out in the sun to bake the paint on before I proceed to sealing them with wax. After they have been waxed I will then set the strap swivels in place and get started on the end caps.