Just Loaded Up on Horn

pierredekat · Post by **pierredekat** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:41 am

I fitted one of those Absylux stems into a horn shank extension on an old Danmore pipe for a guy, and I really liked the way that those two materials mated up: really, really smooth.

You know, sometimes materials don't mate up so well and you wind up with a squeaky mortise and tenon that need a lot of wax to smooth things out. Not so with Absylux-and-horn.

Actually Absylux and pretty much anything makes for a silky smooth fit, but I really liked the Absylux-and-horn combination.

Well, I snooped around ebay and saw a lot of the blacker horn, but I didn't see much point in fitting black horn next to a black stem -- kinda defeats the purpose of using different materials if they look exactly the same, huh?

But I hit the jackpot on some of this kinda olive-green horn, here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0212534756

So what do you all recommend, as far as gluing steer horn to briar?

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:33 am

I'm a big fan of T-88 epoxy. It's a slow-cure, structured epoxy that is incredibly strong. I get mine at Woodcraft, but I think it can be had almost anywhere. It takes 24 hours minimum to cure, but this also leaves plenty of time for adjusting - and you can mix up a batch first thing and use it all morning on various things as you get to the point where you want to apply epoxy.

It does take 24 hours, but patience is rewarded. In fact, I tend to leave mine for 48 just for extra insurance.

pierredekat · Post by **pierredekat** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:02 pm

Thanks, Kurt. I have a Woodcraft store locally, and I'll try to swing by there and pick some up.

Something I was wondering. I was thinking about doing a tenon on one end of my shank extension and a mortise on the other. Do you think I should turn a couple of grooves on the horn-tenon to ensure a good grip when I glue it?

kkendall · Post by **kkendall** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:23 pm

I would be inclined to put a mortise on both ends of the horn... then on the end going into the shank, glue (epoxy) in a delrin tenon.

I don't know how other folks do it. (especially if its a short extension)

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:28 pm

I usually roughen up the surface with a file in a few places whenever I'm mating 2 surfaces, whether it's a tenon or dowel.

I took a look at the horn you linked. The greenish tinge is probably more due to lighting. Once it's sanded & polished, it will most likely be varied colours of brown, grey and white. With the white streaks, it should look really good as an insert/extension. Keep in mind, most of the horn is hollow, only the last 6" to 8" will be solid horn.

pierredekat · Post by **pierredekat** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:45 pm

Thanks guys. Yeah, this pipe of Kurt's was part of my inspiration for shooting for the olive green color. But just so long as my horn doesn't all wind up being the same black as my stem, I'll be happy.