Author Topic: Scrimshaw powder horn  (Read 21863 times)

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Offline theleatherk

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Scrimshaw powder horn
« on: October 19, 2010, 11:39:52 pm »
Hey all!

Since this section is called "primitive skills" and I figured some of you guys shoot black powder, too, I thought I'd ask for some feedback. I've just started doing scrimshaw (and I love it!) and my "teacher" says that a lot of chaps like maps on their horns and that would be historically accurate. I figure I'll do a lot of wildlife, too, I was just hoping to get the opinions/advice of anyone willing to chat.

Thanks for looking!

Here's a pic of my first piece:

[attachment deleted by admin]
In love with nature, the way the earth is listening to my heart beating, as I wish to fly...

Can make anything out of leather - PM me. :)
Kylie
Cincinnati, OH

Offline Hillbilly

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2010, 11:46:32 pm »
Good job!
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Offline Thwackaddict

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2010, 12:31:48 am »
that looks great!!!
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Online Pappy

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2010, 05:56:23 am »
Thats beautiful.Very nice job. :)
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Offline El Destructo

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2010, 08:24:00 am »
Looks Great Kylie...Scrimshaw has always reminded me of Fine Line ...Black and Grey Tattoo Art...and I am a fan of it too........ ;).....did you do the Quilt too?
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Offline theleatherk

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2010, 11:00:41 am »
El Destructo - nope to the quilt - proud owner of it, however, as it was made by my great great grandmother.  :)

Thanks to all for the praise.  ;D
In love with nature, the way the earth is listening to my heart beating, as I wish to fly...

Can make anything out of leather - PM me. :)
Kylie
Cincinnati, OH

Offline ken75

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2010, 11:04:10 am »
vey nice work ,glad someone has patients .. that would look good on a bow handle too !

Offline Parnell

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2010, 12:09:24 pm »
Looks very nice.  Don't know anything about that.  Is it carved in and inked?
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Offline theleatherk

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #8 on: October 20, 2010, 07:14:49 pm »
Parnell,

Yes, that is essentially what scrimshaw is. You use a thin and very sharp needle-like tool to scratch out your design. Once it's complete you run over it with some black paint, wipe it off with a wet cloth, and bam! you have a one of a kind piece!

I've since aged the horn to look even older and am finishing my wampum beaded strap for it now. Will post pics of those later.  ;)
In love with nature, the way the earth is listening to my heart beating, as I wish to fly...

Can make anything out of leather - PM me. :)
Kylie
Cincinnati, OH

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #9 on: October 20, 2010, 10:58:59 pm »
Nice to see scrimshaw work on here as well as the other stuff we post.  I've built each of my three powderhorns and some more for friends, every one is totally different from the next just because of the nature of the materials....much like bows. 

Lotta original powderhorns had poetry on them, too. 

"Powder, patch, and brother ball
Makes free Men
Of us all.
1778"

Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.

Offline theleatherk

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #10 on: October 21, 2010, 09:45:42 am »
JW_Halverson,

Thanks for the input! I will definitely be putting some poetry on my next piece. Now I can't wait to get it started!
In love with nature, the way the earth is listening to my heart beating, as I wish to fly...

Can make anything out of leather - PM me. :)
Kylie
Cincinnati, OH

Grunt

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2010, 07:59:52 pm »
Nice work, keep at it. Priming horns are nice to do small work on too.

Offline theleatherk

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #12 on: October 24, 2010, 01:13:45 pm »
Updated pics of the horn and new wampum beaded strap! (The wampum beading is VERY rudimentary.  :D )

The horn's been "aged" since the first pictures. Not sure if I necessarily like it better, but it does the job for primitive rendezvous.

[attachment deleted by admin]
In love with nature, the way the earth is listening to my heart beating, as I wish to fly...

Can make anything out of leather - PM me. :)
Kylie
Cincinnati, OH

Offline Pat B

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #13 on: October 24, 2010, 01:28:49 pm »
Kylie, did you make your wampom from clam shells like the original ones were?  The strap goes nicely with the powder horn. I think I prefer the horn in the first pic. The darkness of the "aging" seems to hide the scrimshaw.
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline JW_Halverson

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Re: Scrimshaw powder horn
« Reply #14 on: October 25, 2010, 11:22:28 pm »
Ok, gonna post something for you to think about.  This was for a primitive rendezvous crowd, right?   The expectation is that the gear you are going to carry should be contemporary to the period in time you are seeking to portray, correct? 

Just how many people 200 years ago carried a powderhorn that looked 200 years old? 

Something to think about...if it was meant to look like an original, it would look new or at most would have the marks of normal wear and tear.  I've seen guys drop $2,500 on a custom flintlock rifle and it looks indistinguishable from one carried in 1778 by the Over The Mountain Boys that kicked Colonel Patrick Ferguson's butt on Kings Mountain in Georgia.  I guarantee none of those fellers that depended on keeping their own hair and that of their loved ones had rusty, pitted barrels or srocks that were cracked, weathered to heck, or gussied up with "mountain man" brass tacks.  A common grade rifle, one without any real ornamentation or fancy carving/wire inlay/german silver doodads cost the equivalent of a working man's wages for a year.  Not likely he'd have let it go to pot, especially since it was the first and often last line of defense in a world that saw more personal violence than we care to admit to today. 

Ok, getting off my soapbox.  Sorry if I sounded sour.  And it's still a cool powderhorn, and you got no reason to be ashamed of it, despite my rant.  It's just something as a historical re-enactor that I notice when I see first person interpretation.  Next time at the range, just imagine my face on the target and blaze away, hehehe. 

 
Guns have triggers. Bicycles have wheels. Trees and bows have wooden limbs.