Posted: 11/3/2006 5:40:49 PM EDT
|
Since I've only killed deer rather than critters with horns, I don't know anything about treating horns. I'd like to get a Kudu horn off EBAY to make a Shofar, but I don't know what to use to seal the inside, and whether I need to seal the outside too. I prefer not to get a polished one, so that it's more original, or at least what I perceive as original. Here's what I want to buy;   cgi.ebay.com/49-INCH-AFRICAN-KUDU-HORN-TO-MAKE-SHOFAR-K-1150_W0QQitemZ140047557589QQihZ004QQcategoryZ22702QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I'd have to cut the end off and drill a hole, but then do I need to counterbore a well in it or can I put a trumpet mouthpiece in there instead? So the simple questions are; 1. What/how to seal it? 2. Bore a mouthpiece or use a silver/brass one from a trumpet? Thanks.  EDIT - Moved pics a bit |
WOW! Only 30 bucks so far will win the bid. Seems really really cheap for the makings of a shofar (reform, i bet!) No answer to #1, but every shofar I've seen and handled at synagogue had a squared-off cut on the mouthpiece end. No trumpet mouthpiece, that would be totally goyish. The mouthpiece end needs to be large enough to put your lips to, like a trumpet, and at that size, the hollow of the horn should be large enough to not need counterboring, just maybe a little cleanout. But you won't know until you get it and carefully trim the end. Good luck, You've got till next Rosh Hashana to get it ready. |
Well, I don't know anything about shofarim  But I do know how to make bugle type horns out of cow horns  There may be lots of important traditions that go with shofarim that I know nothing about. Anyway, to make a sounding instrument out of a cow horn, just a plain old noisemaker thing, sometimes called a "hunting horn" you start by cleaning it out. This is pretty gross work, because they are full of organic matter which is smelly. Like caked on blood on the inside. Get as much as you can out with lukewarm soapy water. Do NOT use hot water with animal horns, it will soften the horn and make it change shape. Bend a coathanger around so you can wrap the end of the coathanger around a brillo pad or rough scub pad thing. Bend the coathanger to shape to go inside the horn. Scrub out as much gunk as you can this way. Do all of this outdoors. It smells. Bad. Then use either hydrogen peroxide or clorox bleach to swish around and pour out to get more gunk out of the horn. Repeat a bunch of times. When you get it clean enough, or just get tired of doing this because it is a pretty endless task, then you are ready to cut the pointy end off the horn. Cut off about one inch of it. You can always cut off more lenghth, but you CAN'T put it back on. In the middle the horn should be a little bit softer in the very middle. Drill a hole in it, straight in, to meet up with the natural hollow space in the horn. About 1/4" to 1/2" diameter hole. The size of the hole is less important than you might think... Because you make the noise with your lips, not something that does it for you. The horn merely amplifies the noise that YOU make. Put your lips tightly together at the mouthpiece of the horn, and puff up your cheeks and blow out the air through your pursed lips, well, uh, like you are making an imitation 'flatulence' noise. (I wish there were some other way to say that). Puff up your cheeks and go "-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b" into the mouthpiece -- you don't just "blow". The horn amplifies it. This experience will undoubtedly inspire you to clean the horn a lot more. And carve and smooth the mouthpiece into a comfortable shape. Anyway, that is how to make a noisemaker bugle type horn. I am not saying that is how to make a shofar. Why don't you practice making one out of a cow horn before you undertake one of those big expensive horns? Oh, and before I forget: There is a guy who sells shofarim and those raw animal horns on ebay who goes by the name "the shofar man". Anyway, I ordered a small piece of jewelry from him once, and he was a very good, ethical, friendly ebay dealer to deal with. ETA Working with animal horn is very very smelly. It smells kind of like burning hair when you are working it. Only worse. It is gross, very gross, and a 100% outdoor activity. Even sanding it. Especially sanding it. And do NOT breathe the dust when you drill or sand it. Breathing it can cause pleurisy, a painful condition of irritated lung tissue. I got it once carving ivory. You do not want pleurisy. Edited to add some more: I don't know if shofarim are sealed with wax or anything. But in making a traditional early American type horn bugle thing, we do not use wax. That would be a sign that the craftsman (or woman in my case) was too lazy to do all the proper cleaning and polishing the old fashioned way. |
