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WEST COAST HORNERS’ FAIR
By Mike Nesbitt
A
special gathering of powder horn makers took
place in Vancouver, Washington, and we can
expect this to be just the first of such doin’s for
years to come. Powder horn making is more than
just a sideline to muzzleloading; it’s an art of its own and
the makers of those beautiful powder horns deserve all the
recognition they can get. While those makers, or “horners,”
as they like to be called, get excellent recognition east of the
Mississippi, it is high time that the focus on excellent powder
horns and powder horn makers shifted to the West Coast.
This West Coast Horners’ Fair was organized by John
and Linda Shorb, the owners of Powder Horns and More.
John was personally trained in the art of making powder
horns by Earl Cureton just before Earl retired from his hornmaking business. Now John and Linda still offer “Cureton”
powder horns, plus the polished horns and associated
pieces for other horners. Their website is very interesting.
Take a visit at [www.powderhornsandmore.com/] to do
some shopping.
More than just a fair with the offering of things for sale,
this horners’ doin’s was for all horn makers, beginners and
experienced artists alike. The two-day gathering included
classes that filled both days, in addition to the availability of
already finished powder horns or parts and pieces, to books
on the powder horns and related subjects. We can put it this
way, there was nobody in attendance who had nothing to do.
This horners’ fair was a busy place.
At first I wondered if it would be proper for me to write
about what went on at this horn makers’ fair, because I don’t
know a whole lot about making powder horns. On second
thought, there probably weren’t a lot of others there who
learned as much as I did. Believe me, I learned plenty and
relating some of the things I learned will do well to fill the
rest of this story.
On the first day at noon, Kim, from the Oregon Historical
Society, brought an original horn made by Francis Tansel for
display. Just being able to see that Tansel horn was a real
treat. We weren’t allowed to handle it, as you might guess,
and I surprised myself badly by not even getting a picture of
it! Maybe someday I’ll get another chance.
Left: Glenn Sutt holds an original old powder horn from his collection. Right: Jim and Laura Smith are very active in leather work
and powder horn crafts.
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Some of the fine work shown at the
West Coast Horners’ Fair. Right: A fine
example of scrimshaw on a John Shorb
powder horn. Middle: A priming horn
carved by Dave Dolliver, done in West
Coast Indian style. Below: A very fine
example of powder horn scrimshaw by
Steve Vance.
would again divide the throat of the horn into eighths and
put that ring at the fifth length, again using the golden
mean approximately to locate the placement for that
characteristic.
Scott also spoke of some generalities for beginning
horners. Most beginners don’t take off enough of the horn
when shaping it down to the finished size, leaving the
horn too thick. (That’s true with beginning muzzleloading
gunmakers too. They don’t get the stocks thin enough.) And
he added that horn makers must recognize and maintain the
profile of the powder horn.
Next to speak was Jim Smith from Kent, Washington,
and Jim’s presentation certainly meant the most to me.
He gave an excellent talk especially directed to beginning
horners and that’s where I fit in the very best. As an example,
he said the very first thing to do in making a powder horn is
to drill the hole for the spout. He was specific about using a
hand drill, one that is powered by hand and not a hand-held
drill motor. You want to drill that hole slowly so the horn
does not get hot and so you can keep well in control of the
drilling. Do not use a pilot hole; having a pilot hole simply
Before getting into some of the specifics about making
powder horns or what was said in the various classes and
discussions, let me say that all of the presentations went
very well, with speakers who knew their subjects “back and
forth” so they could answer all questions. And, as the most
proper place to start, they began with the basics.
The first class was put on by Scott Morrison, a wellknown horn maker from Salem, Oregon. His talk was very
informative and he introduced powder horns as “needing”
to be fitting or appropriate in three areas: proportionate
measurement, form following function, and with visual
artistic merit. Scott also talked about the golden mean,
which is a common ratio of dimensions so often found in
nature. That ratio is about 1:1.6 or five out of eight. In other
words, if we are shaping a powder horn with the length of
the horn divided into eight equal lengths, the five lengths
from the base of the horn will become the body. Then the
three remaining lengths to the tip of the horn become the
throat. That will give the horn a naturally balanced look,
pleasing to the eye. And, further, if we want to leave a
ring in the horn for the forward strap to bear against, we
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Presentations and seminars were given by various attendees. Scott Morrison, shown
here, gave examples of proportionate measurement for horn design.
allows the bigger drill to grab as you
try to continue working.
Jim included comments about
methods of drilling a curved hole
through the tip of a curved horn. That
is done by using a curved steel rod that
is heated red hot and then the hole is
burned through the tip of the horn. He
also advised that, if this is done, to do
it outside with your home’s windows
closed and in a fair enough breeze to
take the smell away. Burning a hole
through a horn is truly a stinky process,
but it is a fine method for putting a
curved hole in a curved horn.
Moving our attention to the other
end of the powder horn, Jim went on
to tell us how to round out the usually
oval shape of the horn by heating
the horn in hot oil. Boiling the horn
in water is often mentioned as a way
to soften the horn, but oils, either
vegetable oils or lard, can be heated
hotter than boiling water. Jim often
uses Crisco and advised not to heat it
over 350 degrees. Heat the oil to about
325 degrees and then immerse the base
of the horn in the hot oil for just 10 to
15 seconds to soften it.
Then slide the softened horn over
a forming cone and let it cool with the
cone inside the base of the horn. That
allows the horn fibers to gain a new
memory, so the rounded base will
remain after the cone is removed. (If
you don’t have a forming cone, like
a well-equipped horn maker would,
use the tapered neck of an empty wine
bottle.) As the horn cools, it will get a
good grip on the forming cone, and to
help release that grip just tap on the
sides of the horn’s base.
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Jim also had some good comments
about forming a base plug for a powder
horn that is to be left in the natural oval
shape. That is done by forcing the horn
down over some Styrofoam. When
the horn is removed, the Styrofoam
will maintain the perfect shape for a
template to copy while making the
wooden base plug.
Steve Skillman from Yelm,
Washington, was the next speaker and
Steve talked about the various styles
of powder horns. In his discussion of
powder horn styles and shapes, he
gave instructions on how to make a
flattened horn. For this operation the
whole horn is heated in oil, Steve favors
lard, and then the horn is compressed
in a vice to the shape desired. With the
initial shaping done, the horn is to be
filed and sanded to its finished size.
The next speaker was Glenn Sutt,
also from Washington, and his subject
was scrimshawing. Many of the
old powder horns are scrimshawed
because that not only added art
to the powder horn, it also added
identification. Historians can recall
that Gen. Washington instructed all
of his troops to mark their horns with
something, their names or a brand,
so those powder horns would get
back to their proper owners after the
horns had been gathered for filling.
Glenn also gave us a very good hint
on how to hold the tool. He said to
hold the tool still and rotate the horn
to cut the lines. After the lines of
the pattern are cut, those lines are
flooded with ink and any excess ink
is polished away.
After Glenn gave his talk about
scrimshawing, Steve Vance gave a
very good argument about staying
in your “school.” Just the same as the
schools of Pennsylvania rifles, the
old powder horns generally followed
styles with characteristics that
identify them as being from certain
areas. A Lancaster County rifle is
best accompanied by a Lancasterstyle powder horn. Steve had some
excellent examples of the different
powder horns and he passed them
around the room for all to see.
Steve Vance is seen with a couple of his fine powder horns.
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Then Steve Vance held the floor
and talked about the old Tansel powder
horns. The Tansel family made powder
horns professionally from about 1785
up to 1850. One of the features seen on
several of the Tansel horns is the “fish
mouth” styling, where it looks like the
larger section of the powder horn is
about to swallow the forward section.
Steve is a very accomplished horner
from California, and he was able to
show us some of his own work that
copied the fish mouth styling of the
original Tansel horns.
Next Dave Rase and Steve Skillman
joined forces to talk about the tools
needed for making powder horns. That
list of tools, as you might guess, ranges
from just a couple of things, such as a
hand drill and a couple of files for a
beginner who might make just one or
two powder horns, to a wide range of
specialized tools and forming cones
for the professional horner. The main
point in their message was that you
don’t need a lot of tools to start with;
just those few things that will get the
job done.
Several of these skilled craftsmen
had items for sale as well. In addition
to attending the discussions, I just had
to buy a spice horn from Steve Vance,
a copy of Accouterments II from Jim
Hayden and a couple of polished cow
horns. Yes, I’m going to try my hand at
powder horn making too and I’ll have
some excellent instructors.
Let me briefly give you an idea
about the size of this powder horn fair.
There were 19 display tables set up in
the large 2,000-square-foot hall. The
center grouping of tables was reserved
for the seminar presenters to display
their work. One more table featured
all the raffle prizes to be seen prior to
the drawings, which took place at the
dinner at the end of the second day.
This powder horn fair ended with
an open forum where all of the speakers
were available for a question-andanswer time. That certainly was a good
way to fill in any gaps that might have
taken place in the discussions. All of
the speakers were very accomplished
horners and some of them are very
highly regarded throughout our
country. One of the questions heard
from the floor was, “When is the next
West Coast powder horn fair?” The
answer to that question brought a
round of applause. The second West
Coast Horners’ Fair will be held over
April 27 and 28, 2012, that’s Friday and
Saturday, in Morro Bay, California. For
the latest information on the coming
doin’s, go to [www.west
coasthornfair.com].
M
Copyright 2012. Posted with the express permission of Scurlock Publishing Co., Inc., and
MUZZLELOADER magazine — www.muzzleloadermagazine.com.
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