doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Horn Forearm Tip Query

What is the approximate length of a horn forearm tip? I wish my finished forearm to be 10-12" on a somewhat English style stock. I have horn blocks available from Joe D. and need to figure out where to cut the wood.

Thank you!

What kind of a gun are you stocking?

Shoot! Might be useful--sorry. '98 Mauser in .400 Whelen. 25" barrel with a barrel band swivel.

I like 1 3/4", but I always use ebony~

Thank you Sir!

Edit to add: Why do you prefer ebony over horn?

Horn has more tendencies to move or shrink and those insidious little worms love it.
Also ebony works much like walnut, horn quite differently.
That's what we used when I began stockmaking.

What did you use to hold ebony in place? It seems to unglue itself sometimes.

A dowel or two with Titebond wood glue. Never had one come loose (to the best of my knowledge).
I own guns I put ebony tips on 30 years ago. Probably used white wood glue back then?
I don't own any of these, each built for a client.


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Thanks, Steve. I especially love the '85 Winchester.

Steve,

Nice to hear from you. Hope all is well.

I have used a lot of ebony tips and likewise never had trouble with it staying in place. One thing you do need to check is that it is dry. For some reason a lot of ebony turns up on the market in a very fresh condition. I use a lot of it in musical instrument work too for fingerboards, headstock overlays, bridges etc and it generally is no problem if you de-oil it before you glue it and before you start finishing. Simply rub it down with a solvent right before you apply the glue or finish.

I generally start early and cut the fore end to length and square it up while still a blank, and do the same to the ebony block. This lets you drill and face both pieces while still square and indexable. I then go on and join the two, then treat them like uniform blank. One style of tip I have used on small single shots like small frame low wall styles is a tip joined with a Vee connection. These almost have to be installed as mentioned while everything is square. With a set of V blocks or a 45 deg fence, you can cut centerline vees on the stock blank and ebony, with the female vee on the ebony. Then sand and fit the vees and glue them up with epoxy with carbon powder added. Make the stock as a one piece from there on out.

AGS,
Thanks for sharing,
Mike

I should correct that and say I always put the female vee on the stock.

Ebony or Horn? But like all things in life there are many differences in each. I will start with Ebony, the vast majority of so called Ebony is in fact African "Black wood" that does have a propensity to move even when well seasoned also not as dense as true Ebony. Sadly we Brits are responsible for removing the vast majority of Ebony trees all to make black wood objects to mourn the death of Queen Victoria's husband Albert. If I want Ebony I re purpose Victorian era Ebony. Horn this is a sort of mine field to choose from though there is one horn that is black stable and stays where you put it, Water Buffalo horn can be found jet black streaked with white and sometimes just white.