# I'm gonna try making a cowhorn howler



## finstr (Jan 6, 2013)

I bought a couple of small steer horns from fleabay and I'm going to try and turn them into something that resembles a howl call. With all of the beautiful calls for sale on this site this decision did not come lightly!

I just want to give it a try.

So I do have one question before I start tho. Should I carve the toneboard out of the existing horn end or just size a hole to fit a purchased one?

Maybe its a preferential thing....not sure

Any tips would be appreciated to limit the amount of scrapped horns :rudolf:


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## Rick Howard (Feb 25, 2012)

Making your own tone board will be more fun. Grab some 5/8 delrin from eBay to make a few. .14 Mylar can be bought on eBay too.


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

I would try to make it from the horn IF you have a basic understanding of the proper shape. I bet itzdirty could help you out on that.


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## Weasel (Jun 18, 2012)

The end of the horn pretty much dictates if a one piece howler can be made from it. If it is too hollow there isn't enough material to craft a toneboard and a separate toneboard has to be made. Delrin or Acrylic is a good material. If the end of the horn is too solid it takes a lot of drilling, cutting and sanding to open it up enough for air flow. In my opinion the best compromise is a separate toneboard out of Delrin or Acrylic for those horns. If you have a horn with the right amount of material at the mouth end a one piece horn can be made. In my experience buffalo horns are more consistant for making one piece howlers. Cow horns or Indian buffalo horns are hit or miss.

All this said, wait until Rich Cronk responds. He is the MASTER of horn howlers!!!! For all I know I might be totally off base.


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## prairiewolf (Feb 19, 2012)

+1 on what Weasel says !!!


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## finstr (Jan 6, 2013)

Well I decided after looking at the horns that I could possibly make the toneboard from the horn itself. If I screw it up then I'll just cut the horn end off and insert the delrin. So far that seems to be a sound plan. (no pun intended) :saywhat:

Here's what I started with, just some decorations of some sort;










After sanding the varnish off and cutting the bell end










basic shaping...




























So now I need some .014" mylar and a castrating ring I assume.....

And I guess, now that I'm at this point, this is where the frustration comes in when I start shaping the toneboard to tune it? :smiley-confused005:


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## prairiewolf (Feb 19, 2012)

If you dont have any mylar or castration bands.You can cut some reeds from 1 gal milk jugs or clamshell packaging. Then substitute regular rubber bands for the castration rings.

looking good so far !


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## finstr (Jan 6, 2013)

I cut the design off the bell end cuz I thought it looked a little cheesy. I'm workin on the horn I like least in case I screw it up :smile: I'm saving the colorful one for when this one's done. I took a reed out of a duck call that I didn't like and trimmed it a little to fit this toneboard. I have an O-ring selection that I used temporarily just to try this out. *Holy Shikies this thing is LOUD! *

It's a little high pitched I think but I can get good howls and barks out of it. I might try it out the way it is and see if it works.

Just needing a coat of clear. Any suggestions on a spray sealer fellas?










Now my reloading room smells like bonedust/ burning hair, yummy.....lol


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## prairiewolf (Feb 19, 2012)

You can just polish and buff it !


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## Bigdrowdy1 (Jan 29, 2010)

Well that is a heck of a start for your first!!!!


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## dwtrees (Mar 5, 2012)

Bigdrowdy1 said:


> Well that is a heck of a start for your first!!!!


I would say so.

What size hole did you drill for the passage?

I have a old buffalo horn I was going to make into a powder horn but now I think I will try to make a howler out of it.


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## finstr (Jan 6, 2013)

I didn't drill a hole in it. When I cut the rough tone board shape I broke thru the end of the hollow part of the horn. The hole was already there and I measured it beforehand to get the tone board length. So all I did was clean the hole up a bit with the die grinder when I cut the air channel. The hole now is roughly 7/32" . Being my first call I have no idea if this is an optimal size or not. Just seemed to work out that way.

Sorry if that's not much help. I will say that so far I'm glad I tried this project. I like making useful things and it's better when they actually work! lol

Thanks for the advice I've received thus far fellas. I've learned alot. I still got some work to do tuning and polishing etc. I don't think I'm gonna make it too pretty tho cuz that'll cut into my huntin' time! :hunter01:


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## sneakygroundbuzzard (Nov 1, 2012)

nice work

i think you should have left the design on the end of the bell,it looked cool

i wouldnt put sealer on it,horn ages really nicely and looks cool once it does jm2cw


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## Rick Howard (Feb 25, 2012)

Looking real good!


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## finstr (Jan 6, 2013)

Thanks fellas! I wet sanded it with some 400 grit paper then used a little wax on it and it's actually shiny now.


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## Rick Howard (Feb 25, 2012)

You can put just about any finish you want on them.... I don't like oil on Them though. You will probably want to finish the inside somehow.


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## Weasel (Jun 18, 2012)

Excellent job. It looks like you are an old pro at this.


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## bones44 (Jan 7, 2011)

Turned out beautifully ! That's a heck of a nice start !!!!


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## finstr (Jan 6, 2013)

Thanks guys, you're too kind. I've hit a bit of a wall here in the fine tuning stages. The real problem is I'm not sure what exactly it's supposed to sound like. I mean it sounds like a coyote but how do I tell if it's the correct pitch? I liken it to building a guitar, anybody can make one that looks correct but will it play? And if you're not a musician how do you know?

I guess I'll just have to play it to the audience and let them decide..... :runforhills:


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## prairiewolf (Feb 19, 2012)

I dont think the pitch is as important as you being able to hold the note when you blow. JMO


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## Rick Howard (Feb 25, 2012)

That is exactly why some guys love a call when others do not. Each call maker has there own way of tuning a call for how they blow it. This is why I suggested using delrin for your first. It will allow you to try lots of things until you get it the way you want it.


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