Shop time

[LongWalker]

Been getting some shop time, but am running into problems trying to post pics (and who's got time to deal with that, eh?).  So I set some up on the gallery function here, and will try to post them that way.




AHA--It Worked!

OK, here's the butt plug on that one . . .


. . . and the spout.


This one is fairly typical of my buffalo horns.  I tend to either copy an original to the extent possible (such as a copy of Girty's horn I'm currently working on) or I take features from several originals, like this one.  The spout is similar to several horns known to have been used 1800-1832, from the build-up to Tecumseh's War/War of 1812 through Black Hawk's War.  The small spout makes it easier to prime from the horn. 

As on many of these horns, the end plug is walnut: I used a piece re-sawn from a 16"x24" walnut beam salvaged from a barn built in the 1850s.  The tacks--particularly the size of the tacks and the spacing--are similar to several Missouri horns from the 1830-1850 period.

Jim

[LongWalker]

Next up:

This is a freaky little horn, for several reasons.  I seldom make a horn this small: capacity is probably less than a third of a pound of powder, not enough for me to shoot a rifle match or a day plinking at the range.

Around 1998, I found that my cache of raw horns had been hit pretty hard by carpet beetles.  I mentioned this to Bill Knight (the legendary Mad Monk), and he suggested I look into using mineral pigment dyes.  I finally got around to doing some experiments with it in 2000.  One horn came out of the dye process looking bizarre, with streaks of brown and red intermixed with the greens of the copper solution.  I set it to the side in the barn with an untreated horn to see what the bugs would do . . . . and there they sat.  By 2004 the untreated horn looked like Swiss cheese, but the treated horn was untouched. 

Flash forward 20 years.  I started scraping the horn to see what was underneath the color streaks, but they appeared to extend all the way through the horn.  In all my years haunting museums and private collections, I'd only seen one horn with similar coloration, so I copied it. 

The original is in a private collection in Wyoming.  It was purchased in Independence Missouri in April 1843, and carried west to Oregon by a boy of about 11 (some dispute over his age in contemporary documents).  He and his family arrived in the Willamette Valley in October 1843.  From time to time throughout his life he kept a journal (and the entries made while on the trail to Oregon are about what you'd imagine of any kid his age).  By 1860-61 he was back on the Plains, carrying an 1841 rifled musket and this horn.  He settled in Wyoming.  The horn, musket, and his journals are still in the family. 

My copy, as with the original, has a plug made of poplar.  Not sure why it has those two grey streaks in line with the legs of the staple, the original has something similar.  Kind of a serendipitous thing that they'd match in that way.   



Now if I could just figure out what would possess someone to take off on a 2,000 mile trip with such a tiny horn, let alone being out on the Plains in the early days of the Indian Wars with such a small supply of powder--maybe 30 shots for that Mississippi Yaeger. 

[LongWalker]

Now for some powder measures:


This is a batch of powder measures I've been working on.  These are just in the first stage of my staining process, and will look more like antler again in a day or two.  From left to right:
1. Copy of a measure taken back to England after the War of 1812.  Capacity is ~70 gr FFg if I remember right. 
2. This will be the new measure for my GRRW Leman, and for use when doing the Intro to Flintlocks classes.  Since I needed a measure to hold 80 gr FFg, it was made to fit in with several larger measures collected in Missouri. 
3. This one is styled after a measure from a painting done in Georgia around 1800; I almost suspect the measure in the painting was a bear or alligator tooth.  This one holds ~70 gr. FFg.
4. I wrote about this one a couple weeks ago.  It was used by a market hunter about 1875.  I've never had the original in hand, so had to work from guesses on measurement and capacity; I think I goofed, as the capacity is ~150 gr FFg/2 ounces of #6 shot!



This pic shows the mouths of the measures.  In an unusual step for me, 3 of the 4 have that little "fingernail" pouring spout.  I tend to dislike these, as I can't throw as consistent a charge with them as I can with a flat topped measure (like #4, above).  This time things worked out that way, but in general I make about one "fingernail" measure for every 8-10 without. 

[Bigsmoke]

Nice work.
I never cared much for making powder measures, except I did use to make adjustable brass ones.  That was kinda fun.
I am looking forward to getting back into the shop in a few weeks myself.  Lots of lost time to make up for.  I will be getting a batch of horns from Powder Horns and More in a couple of weeks, so the only excuse I will have is being old and lazy.
John

[LongWalker]

Sometimes powder measures are one of those things I make as a change of pace.  These are ready for a final polish before they go in the dye bath. 

Neither of these horns is finished. Both need some clean up before final polishing.  I need to replace that staple that got bent when I was bending the legs.  I need to taper the spout holes, and get plugs carved. 

[KDubs]

Real nice.
 I too have been busy
 [ Invalid Attachment ]
 Small day horns and a primer
Kevin

[Bigsmoke]

Kevin, nice work.
Where did you get that spiffy valve on the bottom horn?
I have one like that and have thought of maybe making a few valved horns if I can find another one or three.
IIRC (no guarantee on that lately), Treso used to make a 25 grain spout for that valve, but alas, they are no longer around.  And that is a real shame.  They made nice stuff and I have probably sold my weight in their products over the years, several times over.  Gosh, it's 50 years since I started stocking Treso products.  Amazing.  that's what happens when you become an old phart.
John

[KDubs]

I think that valve came from an old metal flask I had with a crack in it.
 Saved the valve and tossed the flask .
 Finally found something to do with it.
 Kevin

[LongWalker]

Aren't damaged flasks the usual source for flask heads for powder horns? 

The Hawksley brothers founded G&JW Hawksley LTD in 1840--which puts them post-dating the rendezvous era.  By ~1845-1850, they started showing up on horns (similar to KDubs above): some of this was folks blending the head from a damaged flask with the body of a powder horn, but some of it appears to have been original work.  Their father, John Hawksley, was a horn merchant. 

Most of the "blended" horns seem to date after 1850, judging by the makers' marks.  So while too late for the beaver trade, they fall right in to the middle buffalo hide trade (sometime we should have a good discussion here on the actual buff hide trade, rather than just the "Glory Days of the Sharps Rifle").  Even as late horns, I've always thought they were incredibly cool.  I used to have one, and it was a joy to use. 

I've got a (repro) flask with a Hawksley-pattern head on it, adjustable from 2 1/2, 2 3/4, 3, 3 1/4 drams.  I got it with the intent of robbing the head, but kept having people tell me it was "worth more as a flask" and that I'd stumble across a head eventually.  Well, I haven't seen a bare flask head (or damaged flask) in the 5 years I've been looking, and the flask has been for sale for 2 years with nary a nibble.  Sometime this summer, I'll get one made.

Of course then I'll have to get a .54 caliber Mississippi and sporterize it, but sacrifices must be made at times. 

Got the dinky little horn done (seems I'd also forgot to pin the butt plug in place--oops!), replaced the staple on the b uff horn and got it done, even carved spout plugs. 

Removing a properly-installed staple is a bit hairy.  On that horn there was 3/8" of each leg protruding inside the horn, and I bent them over while the horn was still open on both ends.  I wound up cutting the staples flush with the outside of the horn, then  punching them through.  A little shaking and they were out.  Replacement was a different matter. . . I made a new staple from a brass cotter pin I had laying around (half-round wire), filed the ends to fit the holes, and heated the staple red hot to anneal it.  While it was hot (but not red hot) I pressed it into place.  As the pins began protruding through the horn, I started bending them over.  Had to make a tool for that.  I took a #2 Phillips screwdriver and extended one of the cuts at the tip back about 1/2" using a file.  Lined up with the legs of the staple when inserted into the spout, it caught them and bent them the direction I wanted. 

I'm not happy with the spout plugs, but I never am.  I've examined (and have notes on) >3,000 horns with a history of use in the trans-Mississippi west.  More than half were missing the spout plug, and who knows when the remaining plugs were added to the horn?  Some might be original, but how could you tell?  I saw some horns in Europe that seem to have been curated close to the time of use and probably had the original--or at least, contemporary--plugs in them, but that is about it. 

The little horn now has a poplar spout plug carved kinda like a fiddle peg.  The buffalo horn has a plug--also poplar--carved as a section of a cone.  I may trash one or both, and start over. 

The third horn I was working on is officially completely and totally dead.  Nice horn, but while shaping the spout I noticed a "crack".  After another hour it was clear it was a de-lamination: too large to salvage as a powder horn.  It is otherwise a nice horn and may wind up becoming a cup or run horn.  It is probably too thin to get chopped up and turned into rings for a banded horn. 

Started work earlier this week on horn #4.  This one is a copy (based on my notes) of a bison horn I saw in a collection in the UK.

[Bigsmoke]

I believe Track used to carry a repro of the Hawsley flask head, or something kinda like it.
I did like that one as it had a screw off base that really simplified the installation process.
I found that with the ones from Pedersoli, one had to do some careful grinding to make a spot in the nose of the horn for the gate to be able to function.  One little slip and you were through the horn.  I forger the size of the hole saw I used for that but you could cut out horn material to the point where the base of the valve would just fit onto the horn with only a tiny bit of file work.  I would epoxy the valve onto the horn then drill and tap two holes for little brass screws to make sure the valve installation was permanent.
Gee, I used to have a lot of fun messing around with silly little projects like that in between my regular production work.  If I would have known that the Hawsley style flask head was discontinued, I would have kept the last one I made, it was really beautiful.
John