2013 West Coast Horn Fair: Photos

Photos supplied by Steve Skillman.

Raffle Prizes for the 2013 West Coast Horn Fair

Gary Bertelsen made a set of  "Osceola" beaded garters.  These are based on the original piece at the National Museum of the American Indian which says they are associated with Osceola and included in a George Catlin painting.  They are beaded in wool yarn.

Willy Frankfort, Master Horner of The Honourable Company of Horners, made this 18th century horn box.  The oval box has a Federal eagle 1776 on one side and Liberty on the other.  The horn started out round and was heated and molded to its current shape.

Day Horn by Jerry Frank

It is a small day horn and NOT a priming horn. It can be filled with powder and placed in a pocket on the hunt. It holds about 14 - 70 grain shots. The horn is capped with walnut sides with a horn spout. the Spout peg is made out of Hickory shaft, ebony fluted thumb hold, with a bone pin. 

Cotton Tail Rabbit Flat Powder Horn by Rick Froehlich.

Sewing Kit by Steve Skillman

A pincushion, button box, lucet, needle case, horn needles, thimble, and a bobbin. This prize is for the raffle for participants only.

We will be leaving for WA on the 23rd. We will log onto our pay pal account and enter the tickets there at the Fair.

Supporters can buy tickets through pay pal at this site: Events

Copy and photo supplied by Linda Shorb from Powderhorns and More.

"Silk Purse" Powder Horn from a "Sow's Ear" by Scott Morrison

John Shorb gave a talk on "choosing your horn" at at the West Coast Horn Fair last year in Morro Bay, California, last year. He had several examples of horns with defects that would lend a person to pass when choosing. One example that he recommended passing up was a thin, translucent, misshapened horn that had a severe delamination at the tip.

Scott Morrison recalls, "I was sitting in the back of the room with Steve Skillman in "Heckler's" row and I just couldn't let this go by. I told John something to the effect that this was nonsense and that there was a lot that one cold do with the horn. John came right back and said that when the horn came to me  as it was being passed around the room to go ahead and keep it. The gauntlet had been taken off and the challenge issued;  John was pretty much telling me to put up or shut up.

Well now honor was at stake and I could not back down. So I took up the challenge and not only would I take this "Sow's Ear" and make some sort of "Silk Purse" with it, but it would come back to the West Coast Horn Fair in 2013 to be auctioned off.

The horn sat in my to do box until recently when I decided that I needed to "get-r-done". When I got back from the WCHF last year, all I had done with it was to cut off the tip and drill the spout. I had originally thought that the horn would be good for a Southern banded horn with an applied tip and when I cut and drilled it, I saw that there was plenty of material for such a horn.

As you can see in the photo, there is approximately 1/2 inch at the tip, which would be plenty for an applied tip or even threaded for a screw tip. The discoloration at the tip is where the internal separation of the horn layers occurred. I decided on a horn with an applied antler tip.

I had turned a base plug and fitted a rear ring to the horn and when I did a trial fit of an antler tip the horn looked too long to my eye. I ended up taking about 3/4 inch more off of the tip which improved the proportion. There was still plenty of material at the tip so I had no problem fitting the antler.

Of greater concern to me wasn't the tip but the thinness of the horn. When the horn was cleaned and polished, there was left humps and hollows from the sander that was used. One side of the horn was also pretty flat. Normally, there is enough wall thickness on a horn that I can work it to some semblance of round. However, since this horn was to thin, I was afraid that if I tried to round it I might break through the wall. The best I could hope for was to remove the humps and hollows and have a smooth body. The flat spot would have to remain.

I first thought of having just one band on the horn, but decided that this would be too uninteresting so I went with three bands. I heated the bands so they were pliable and they slipped around the oblong shape of the body easily, leaving no gaps. The base plug is walnut. The button finial is turned horn and tapered to slip fit into the base. I heated the bands so they were pliable and they slipped around the oblong shape of the body easily, leaving no gaps.

The base plug is walnut. The button finial is turned horn and tapered to slip fit into the base.

The horn was stained with aqua fortis, then a patina applied with a combination of shoe polish and blackpowdered tempura paint.

It measures 15 inches along the outside curve and 2 1/4 inches across at the base. The horn is nice and translucent and light as a feather.

I think it is an acceptable "Silk Purse" made from the "Sow's Ear" that was the original horn."

Copy by Scott Morrison with all information supplied by Linda Shorb of PowerHorns and More.

Prizes for the 2013 West Coast Horn Fair

Horn Contest Prizes

There will be a horn judging contest for three categories: 

Engraved Powder Horn,

Non Engraved Powder Horn

Horn Item NOT a Powder Horn. 

Prizes for 1st and 2nd place and ribbons for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. You can enter items in all three categories if you want.

The Prizes for First and Second place in the Horn Competition are a Horn Strap and a polished cow horn.  Donated by The Weaving Welshman and Powder Horns and more respectively.

Raffle Ticket Prizes

These Raffle Tickets are for the West Coast Horn Fair Raffle. You do not need to be present to win. You can buy tickets through this site up to April 23, 2013.

This Southern Banded Powder Horn was donated by Scott Sibley. 

 The horn measures 13" around the double curve.  Scott filed the horn to make it much lighter in weight. The tip is turned Whitetail antler and it done in two pieces as were the majority of original horns. The tip and bands are fastened with wooden pegs. There are four turned bands. The base plug is cherry, turned with a "wasp waist" design as per an original "Shenandoah Valley" horn that is in Scott’s collection.  The dark color is also like the original horn.

Hartley Book Donated by the Honourable Company of Horners, Jeff Bibb President.

Robert M. Hartley made these drawings documenting historic powder horns. The  drawings are laid out so you see all sides of the horn. There are close-up photos of  the Royal Coat of Arms, rivers, cities and towns, forts and animals. Hard Back Book.

Engraving Historic Firearms by John Schippers. Donated by the NMLRA

This book is 460 pages with over 2130 color photographs on engraving Historic Firearms. It is for beginners to experts, for aspiring engravers and fine art lovers.

Wampum beaded Belt "Hawkeye Belt"donated by Gary Bertelsen  

This one of a kind horn belt is designed after the belt Daniel Day Lewis used as a horn belt in the movie "Last of the Mohicans". It is  also known at the "Hawkeye Belt" It is made with replica wampum beads, woven on brain tanned deer hide laces with artificial sinew. It is long! It measures (beaded portion) 50 inches plus 15 inches of lace fringe on each end - At 50 inches, this is a strap that will fit a Big Boy. 

Second prize by Gary Bertelsen (no picture yet)I included a set of "Osceola" beaded garters.   These are based on the original piece at the National Museum of the American Indian which says they were actually worn by Osceola and included in a George Catlin painting

Horn Box donated by Tim Sanner

Tim Sanner is a Journeyman Horner in the Honourable Company of Horners.  This little container is called a Horn Box. The box is made of cow horn with a walnut base.  The lid is turned walnut with a white horn ring.  It measures 3 1/2" tall and 2 1/2" in diameter. This is a piece anyone would be proud to own.

Engraved horn cup by Brian Gibson.

Two artist's proof horns engraved by Yosef Trilling. 

He takes a cow horn and engraves a new subject to see exactly how it will look on the curved and limited surface of the horn.

Lynn Blevens of the Weaving Welshman has donated the three straps for the Horn Contest.  In addition he has donated the blue and gold strap.

Engraving tool made and doanted by David Rase.

The tip is a Coulter Precision carbide point held in place with a set screw so the tip can be changed out when it gets dull.  Dave hand turned the brass holder and installed a blue grip cushion.

Regina and Paul Moore from The Old Weavers of KY donated a black and white cotten strap.

Building the Southern Banded Horn" by Scott and Cathy Sibley Donated by Shannon Kirby of Smoke and Thunder

The official 2012 West Coast Horn Fair Strap was made at the fair and donated  by Annie MacHale. Also a gift certificate for a custom strap.  This white and black horn strap is made out of linen and hemp.

One "Real Men Shoot Flint" Coffee Cup, donated by Rick Sheets of JW Web Solutions.

Kris Polizzi has donated a blue and red strap and a black and red strap and a gift certificate for a custom made strap.




Three original art prints by David Carrick donated by John Shorb of Powder Horns and more.

More information can be found at West Coast Horn Fair Raffle Tickets.