fletcherfor2

[froghunter]

can you please post a pic of your grandpa's hunting horn. i got a cool looking goat horn today and want to make a horn out of it for my hound.

i have NO IDEA of what to do for the mouth peice.

Thanks.

[fletcherfor2]

can you please post a pic of your grandpa's hunting horn. i got a cool looking goat horn today and want to make a horn out of it for my hound.

i have NO IDEA of what to do for the mouth peice.

Thanks.

Will do tomorrow night.

The tip of the horn was just cut off to make the mouthpiece. It's not perfectly round in diameter and the opening has a diameter of 1/2" to just over 5/8".

The opening was either hand augured or carved in a tapered fashion down to an internal opening of about of about 5/16". The taper from the outside opening to the inside smaller diameter appears to be about 3/8" in depth.

The opening and internal taper down to a smaller opening looks kind of like the mouthpiece of a trumpet (just smaller in diameter). I used to play a trombone in school, and I can tell you that you have to pinch your lips together pretty small to get a good note out of it. It helps to have played a brass instrument.

I'll try to get a picture that's good enough to show what I'm trying to describe.

[froghunter]

thank you very much, sir.

[caughtandhobble]

I thought I would show you the last one that I made, I hope it helps. I have never made one from a goat horn, but I hear they're very hard to get right. This one is made from a cow horn. Good luck!

[froghunter]

sweet, now i kinda have an idea of what to do. thanks guys.

[fletcherfor2]

Yep,

That second picture of the mouthpiece is what I was trying (poorly) to explain with words. A picture is usually better and always easier.

My grandpa's horn mouthpiece is not nearly as symetrical as cah's. The horn tip is not a perfect circle and I don't think there was such a thing as an electric drill 90 years ago when he made it. The interior hole is offset to continue on down the side of the horn, rather than in the center as in cah's picture. I can't tell if he had to do it that way to follow the solid material into the horn or not. I can't tell how far into the horn that it is solid (as the horn is twisted).

I'll post a picture this evening.

[caughtandhobble]

I guess I should have given some instructions...

Always make the mouth piece first, it stinks when you have a beautiful polished horn then mess up the mouth piece. When making the mouth piece you need to cut around an inch and half off of the tip, depending on the horn size and shape. Then drill a quarter inch hole as close to the center as possible at the tip of the horn. It's easy until here, as far as symmetrical there was no electricity here. Once the hole is drilled the widdling and sanding begins until it sounds and looks good.

Next is when the polishing comes to play... Find a heavy glass bottle and break it, if you're lucky you will get a piece that is close to the contour of the horn (sometimes this is a chore by itself). Take the glass and use the sharp edge and scrape and then scrape some more. This is very time consuming and takes a very long time. I've never seen a goat horn up close so I don't know if they're polished or not.

Once the horn sounds good and looks good you need to widdle or file a ring around the tip and drill a hole for the strap. When you get finished with the ring, just sand it down. At this point it's time for the strap, leather or nylon can be used. On my horns I use braided nylon although leather looks better. The nylon will last forever and it is super tough. I've never lost one with a nylon strap, I can't say that about a leather strap.

It took me about two weeks to make the one above after one of my knee surgeries, when I had plenty of time on my hands. I hope this helps, make sure to show us some pictures when you're finished...

[froghunter]

what is the purpose of glass scraping?? to thin the horn? if so does that change the sound?

[caughtandhobble]

The glass smooths then eventually polishes. I am not certain if that would be necessary for a goat horn, I never seen a goat dog horn in person.

[fletcherfor2]

Here you go Derrick.

The last two are of the mouthpiece. You can see a little different definition/ angle between the two.

The carved piece of wood tied to the horn is a spare plug for his powder horn.

I wish I could do audio (don't have the equipment) so you could hear how it sounds.

The measurements I gave in the first post should hopefully make a little more sense. I hope this helps. Good luck on your horn and on the dog training.

[meangene1969]

That is cool

[caughtandhobble]

That's very nice... There was a lot of polishishing on that horn, most likely with broken glass to get a goat horn that smooth. Thanks for sharing.

[froghunter]

awsome pics guys, thanks for all the help!

[froghunter]

goat horn 1 Derrick 0

just lost a fight with my goat horn. it came off a VERY old goat and had been laying in a pasture for over a year. it was about 16" long. the top 8" of it was solid. after drilling it was brittle and gave me alot of trouble. i would drill,cut,drill,cut trying to hit the hollow part. i finally gave up. gona try and find a nice cow horn to work with.

[caughtandhobble]

Check out the local slaughter house, rancher friend or maybe local feed store. Horns are really getting hard to come these days, the only thing wasted on the cow is the mooow.