Kentucke 1784

[Gunny]

Looks fantastic.  If I wanted to display mine what would you suggest?

[aaronc]

7 minutes ago, Gunny said:

Looks fantastic.  If I wanted to display mine what would you suggest?

 

No wrong way to do it,..I have some of mine in the living room built-in mixed in with a buncha books. That being said I have plans to make several of these. They certainly are not hard by woodworking standards,..but is what I have found I like the best. A guy can substitute his favorite material and design as desired 

 

 

[Gunny]

Someone made me one and now that we are refurbing the living room I can make a place for it.  I don't have a wall of fame anywhere in the house, not really my style.  Kinda you don't want to know I guess.  But this was made for me by a fellow that was on another website years ago.  

 

[aaronc]

Note on the horn above on the stand that it is another "His Horn"....I just saw that ,.......and the S is backwards in "His". The illiteracy rate was very high back in those days and it bore true on powder horns as well. Some makers intentionally misspell words and turn letters around etc. for "the authentic look". I may have done it a time or 2,..not sure. .......but a maker/scrimshander would be very much within historical context to do so 

Edited September 18, 2020 by aaronc

[aaronc]

2 minutes ago, Gunny said:

Someone made me one and now that we are refurbing the living room I can make a place for it.  I don't have a wall of fame anywhere in the house, not really my style.  Kinda you don't want to know I guess.  But this was made for me by a fellow that was on another website years ago.  

 

 

I personally like the wooden stands,...just haven't gotten to it yet. Really been waiting on some 60 degree weather to drag some saws out. May knock them out in the next few months,..I have some cutting to do on a couple of other small projects. 

 

[Gunny]

3 minutes ago, aaronc said:

Note on the horn above on the stand that it is another "His Horn"....I just saw that ,.......and the S is backwards in "His". The illiteracy rate was very high back in those days and it bore true on powder horns as well. Some makers intentionally misspell words and turn letters around etc. for "the authentic look". I may have done it a time or 2,..not sure. .......but a maker/scrimshander would be very much within historical context to do so 

 

Interesting detail, would have never thought anything of it.  

[aaronc]

2 minutes ago, Gunny said:

 

Interesting detail, would have never thought anything of it.  

Yep,...folks today (myself included)get caught up in the details and at times view these things as stand alone items...but they weren't  . They were the companions of the Kentucky Long Rifle.....they held the powder and they did it well. That powder charge which sent the lead down range did it's part to send many a redcoat back to Merry Ol' England in a box....or wherever they ended up. They are straight up military items,......"Deaths Hand" fits right on'em  

[Gunny]

12 minutes ago, aaronc said:

They are straight up military items,......"Deaths Hand" fits right on'em  

Imagine the enemy listening in on our radio's.  What do you think went through there minds hearing that one?  

 

 

[Masonsailor]

WOW ! That is very impressive work 

Paul

[aaronc]

2 hours ago, Masonsailor said:

WOW ! That is very impressive work 

Paul

Thank you. 

[aaronc]

Map is completely roughed in,...still have to finish the cartouche box,....then all the script,..shading,..detailing......but it was time to do an initial inking to see where I was at. So,..here's where it's at 

 

 

 

[Gunny]

Amazing work and detail.  

[Cal]

Coming along super Aaron.  How many hours do you estimate you have into it at this point?  Do you try to keep up with that?

[aaronc]

29 minutes ago, Cal said:

Coming along super Aaron.  How many hours do you estimate you have into it at this point?  Do you try to keep up with that?

 

I sure don't,...but if I had to guess I'd say 30ish. Most sessions are about 4 to 6 hours. 

 

Thanks 

[John Morris]

Man that is looking beautiful Aaron! Your work is amazing, and you make me want to delve into that more and more, just another to add to my endless bucket list of crafts to work in, lets see, longrifle building, iron work, knife making, leather, antler, horn making! I only have about 30 or 40 years left on this earth, God willing, I sure wish I'd of started all these crafts in my 20's. But hey, life gets in the way don't it. Right now I could barely call myself a woodworker! 

 

Thanks for the follow up, I love your work, and the art.

 

[John Morris]

Aaron, I see the Coulter Precision tool you are using, can you tell us what they would have used back in the day? Anything sharp, a knife, a needle, a nail?

[aaronc]

4 hours ago, John Morris said:

Aaron, I see the Coulter Precision tool you are using, can you tell us what they would have used back in the day? Anything sharp, a knife, a needle, a nail?

 

 

Exactly,...anything sharp. Also for "darkening your lines"..I use India Ink.....which is quality stuff and historically correct. However,..there is no wrong thing to use. There is no telling how much scrimshaw was done around a fire at night and the ash from the fire or lamp soot used instead of any type of ink.....even dark dirt. I get your point on the preferred early start..I have several things on my to do list....some bird and decoy carving being just one of them....but that stuff works out like it's supposed to...........I do firmly believe it's the journey not the destination 

[Gene Howe]

3 hours ago, aaronc said:

I do firmly believe it's the journey not the destination 

That may be true but, I'd hate to see the journey with one of your horns and never get to admire the destination. 

That's like watching and smelling the cookies being made and then being told that they were all for the neighbors.

[aaronc]

   Spent a solid 5 hours on this yesterday. Really focused on getting the cartouche box knocked out...fixed a couple of spots on the map...and at the very end went over the compass rose...Nothing new is inked yet..but everything is scratched/scribed. Probably have multiple more sessions to get the cartouche roughed in and ready to do some detailed shading. On the compass rose I cut in some initial shading on the triangles...and went around the outer ring with the "wider" end on my scribe..next time I ink it will hold more ink and be "fatter" than the inner ring....as per our reference pic.(hopefully). Also added that little "quarter circle" at the end of my pencil...it was probably a mistake by the cartographer to not completely erase a circle he used for reference on the original map,..at least that's what I think...but it's there...so when I see those things they get added. 

     I will use that fat end of the scribe a lot on certain aspects of the map and just wherever it helps give the effect I need of a wider darker line. Also I will be using a couple of different black inks,..one darker than the other (again hopefully),..to give the cartouche and some of the future script a "pop". For me the variances add up and prevent everything from looking like it got hit by the same hammer....I just  prefer that look 

[Gunny]

That is some amount of detail work.