"Not all those who wander are lost."

J R R Tolkien

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14 April 2011

Making a powder horn

I have started to make a powder horn for someone  who's into muzzleloaders. It's going to be a simple one as I was asked not to "go overboard" with it!!

So, here are a couple of pictures of what I have done so far. I have rounded the end of the horn and flattened it. To achieve a nice round end, I made a soft wood, cone plug to round the horn with, with the careful use of a heat gun; I say careful because I didn't want to burn the horn itself. As it is, the plug got a bit singed!





It is a fairly small horn I am using, so, to give the horn a bit more storage space for the powder, I am making  a hollowed domed "butt plug", which will also add a couple of inches in length to the horn. Overall it's going to be about 12" long.

That's it so far. I am keeping the horn on the cone until I have cleaned it up and fitted the butt plug, as I am not sure if the horn would revert to its original shape unsupported.

I finished the domed plug on the lather this afternoon. Here are some pictures of it.










6 comments:

  1. Looking good. Not sure about the hollowed out base plug, but looking forward to seeing the finished product.
    http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com/

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  2. Thanks Le Loup. It's a fairly small horn and I have read hollowed plugs were used to increase the amount of powder the horn could contain. I am about to add a couple more pictures of the plug I have finished on the lather today.

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  3. Very nice work Joel.

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  4. It looks really nice so far, Joel!

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  5. Hey thats pretty nice horn man.
    Ive done quite a few but theyre not as nice at all. I tend to plug the end with a round wood plate that i lock down with small wooden nails,that go thru both,the horn and the wood plug.

    In my blog i have a few pictures of one that i did.


    In our country the horns were usually pressed more flat, after keeping em in boiing water for a minute or two.

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  6. Joel, that's superb mate! Can't wait to see the finished result. Some one's going to be very happy. Thanks for vcomenting on my blog. I've been off the radar so long, now I'm going to have a good read of your blog!

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