John EricsonAs mentioned in the prior post on this horn, I changed directions, what was going to be a small bore valved horn project is now a natural horn project.
Simple solution to a big issue
One thing I had been sweating with the original build was trying to make a first branch work. That is the section of tube between the main slide and the bell tail on a natural horn. As a valved horn, it is that same tube but it leads into the valve section. It was a big issue.
Turns out, I had a very simple solution, at least for a natural horn build. I just had to rework a first branch I had on hand from an (I think) Amborg single horn purchased at an antique mall. A true wall hanger missing a lot of parts. I had to ball out the end of it to get it up to .440 bore, anneal it, fill with Cerrobend and rework the shape. But look at that! It’s very nice. Even has the nice gentle bend needed to put the main slide at the perfect angle.
On to the main slide
The next thing I needed was a main slide, which I had already planned out. The curved tube is from a Mirafone single. and is about .445 bore. The rest of it is .440 bore, all salvaged from the third valve slide of the vintage “H” horn that was made into a natural horn a few weeks ago. Oh, and the cross brace is from who knows where, it was in my parts supply — but matches the types seen on Bohemian natural horns. Glad I had it around.
The other three braces seen above are from the Glassl horn or the Amborg. If/how they are used of this writing is uncertain.
It’s taking shape
The photo above reflects the passage of a few steps. The first step was soldering the first branch on. I ended up using a small brace from a Chinese double horn.
The next big step was assembling the main slide. This went better than it had on the French natural horn, maybe I’m getting better? This one has a “reverse” slide setup, which matched better the types of Bohemian natural horns I was looking at photos of.
Then we get to the topic of bending the critical part that goes from the main slide back to the crook socket. For this I used fresh .440 tubing and I’m real happy how that came out. Another view is below.
I’ve still got to fit up the crook socket and clean up a bunch of stuff. But some good progress! This horn will be playable next week. And it should go together much more easily than the “H” bell horn did.
As of now I’m pondering my remaining inventory of fresh natural horn parts and tube. I need to actually play on this horn body to decide for sure how to best use them. As the Glassl body is somewhat compact, I’m leaning towards this one being set up with a G master crook and three couplers (for F, E, Eb, and D when combined correctly) — and the French (“H”) natural horn will ultimately have at least F and Eb crooks with a small coupler for E and D.
I have almost all the parts I need to do the above, and probably I can get all that done (at least to the point I run out of parts) before the summer shuts me down. Will know soon!
Would mention also, there are two valved horn projects underway too, both of which I stripped the lacquer from this week, a Mirafone Kruspe double and a Mirafone single. Progress on multiple projects, but don’t expect to finish them all before summer.