making a cow horn howler

vander

vander

New member
i finally got a cow horn and now im clueless as to what to do. its got the marrow and bone still in it and dont know how to get it out. the horn itself is very scaley. do i sand it smooth or what. any information will help thanks
 
Fire up the stove in the house, find your wifes best broiler pan, fill it with water, bring water to a boil with the horn in it, let boil until the horn starts feeling a little soft, then remove from water and sometimes, depending on the horn, you can just smack the horn on a concrete floor or wooden corner post works too, and the core will come out. Sometimes I find myself using a knife and sliding it in between the horn and the core to loosing it up. Once you get the core out, you'll need to know what you'll be using for a mouth piece. By knowing the diameter of your mouth piece will dictate how much of the tip to cut off. Once I have the tip cut off, I then begin sanding the horn. I use a 4 1/2" flap disc on my grinder for the heavy duty grinding, then I go to sanding by hand, eventually getting down to 400 grit. Size the tip so as to fit your mouth piece in and I use a two part epoxy to glue it in place. Also will want to sand the inside of the horn some and then seal it with something, I use polyeurethan(sp).
That'll get ya started, and oh by the way, I was just kidding about doing the boiling in the house, I'd highly suggest doing that part outside with an old pan that your wife doesn't ever use. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
allright i boiled and boiled and i got the center out now i was lpanning on using the horn itself for the voice is this possible or not then i sand it down smooth right?
 
I make the voice out out of the horn itself on the ones I've done. It's the first thing I do when I get the horn, I need to know if the tip is thick enough to form the voice I want to make. If it apears too thin, it can still be cut off. I do all this with the bench grinder. Making your voice can be very frustrating, remember to take, sand, or grind off just a little at a time, too much can't be put back. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Once I have the basic mouth piece shape I want I sand the rest as TR described. I also use Min Wax spray on clear poly for the inside.
voice.jpg
 
vandee,
Check out this post on how to make a howler. I think you will find it useful.

Another point of interest, I have been using a power miter saw to cut my horn to size. I have found that a carborundum blade works better than a wood cutting blade. It is stinky, but I have better results that way.

Make sure you post a picture of your finished call for all to see. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
i made the voice and it seems to work fairly well how can i make it louder? do i put more of a downward bend on the tone board, and also the horn itself is 15 in long should i cut it down to 8-10 in or would that make it quieter, once again thanks
 
vander,
If your horn is long and skinny, you may be losing some volume alright. The shape of the horn, the wall thickness and the length all make a difference. A horn of 8-10" with a bell of at least 2" diameter and having a rather thin wall thickness seem to be best for coyote sounds. Concerning your chosen voice for the howler, I suggest comparing sound quality and volume to a good open reed call such as a Crit'r call "standard". If your chosen voice is just as loud as a Crit'r call standard, it will work just fine in a howler. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
i cut it down to about like 8-10 in. and widened the groove in the voice and i t sound good now im wonderong what to sand it with? also wehere do you guys get or buy your cowhorns from?
 
vander,
Try this. Should get you what you need. Get a hold of me if you need more info. Try wet or dry sandpaper for sanding. The paper lasts longer if you use water while you sand.
 


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