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I Forge Iron

Horns


rthibeau

Longhorns and bison horns

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Yes they do but they're not as necessary as folk believe. A lot of folk use them to turn bends, scrolls, rings, etc. but that can be done on the face and over the edge with experience. A horn is very handy for truing up rings and other items turned in an arc, a horse shoe for example.

Another thing I use a horn for is a bottom fuller to speed drawing out in a specific direction the way a cross or straight pein does. When you strike material on the anvil's face it will spread in 2 directions while it's reduced in the vertical direction. When you draw over a fuller the stock draws in one direction significantly more than the second. The horn will act as a fuller.

Those are the two main uses I have for a horn but that's just my experience.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Okay guys you don't REALLY think I read posts before I reply do you? If you're going to insist though.

Critter horns like those shown are best used for holding beer and ale.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Critter horns like those shown are best used for holding beer and ale.

Frosty The Lucky.

And if they are not cleaned really well, your beer goes flat and it 'cures' constipation for days on end!

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And if they are not cleaned really well, your beer goes flat and it 'cures' constipation for days on end!

They're not intended to hold beer till it goes flat and a good purgative is a generally good thing for the . . . retentive.

Speaking for myself I prefer to drink from clean containers. It's probably one of my least blacksmitherly traits.

Frosty The Lucky.

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I though they were for holding  blackpowder and signaling the charge!

Uh you don't just wave your credit card? See the way that Cape Buff is looking at us? We both may be wrong! :o

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Far be it from me to write something germane to the thread…horns and blacksmithing…but on the old double acting Alldays bellows it is traditional to stick a cow horn on the end of the pump handle because it was reckoned to be kinder on the hand anthropometrically...smoother and lower friction to prevent blisters. It is also more ergonomic in that with the curve pointed up, the wrist could remain straight and give a direct pull down all the way through the arc of the handle movement.

In my experience of using those big old bellows however it was not the hand that suffered but the tummy muscles, I ached for days. Fractional horse power fans for me every time thereafter! 

The other use I seem to remember is in the secret recipe for the case hardening box...

Alan

P.S. just remembered another use which I have always intended to try….making a windshield for an oil or candle lamp. I was told the name lantern comes from lamp - horn. The horn is softened (by boiling?) and a thin layer peeled away and flattened which allowed the light through and prevented the flame being blown out.

Edited by Alan Evans
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