A powder Flask from Leftovers

[Mogorilla]

I thought I would post pictures of my new Powder flask for my Colt Navy.  I was inspired by a picture of a German bone flask from the 17-18th century.   I was walking through the pet store and came across the freezer full of large bones.  The bones are the kind of bone you see the bulldog on cartoons gnawing upon.   It was about 14-15 inches in length.   You should have seen the check out girl's face when I had my little buddy under one arm and the bone on the counter.  The bone was about $6.   Wife was away that weekend (a must for these sort of projects, as when I tell her about it, she rolls her eyes so much I am afraid they will stay that way.), so I chopped off the ends, opening the bone's marrow.   Next, I boiled this for about 3 hours, good thing the wife was away, as it stunk, due to opening up the marrow.   But, it was easy to scrape clean inside and out.  I let is sit in a weak bleach solution, as much to kill anything off as to whiten it a little, then in the sun for a day.  I found at Dixie Gunworks-your one stop shopping for all things black powder- a brass spout, complete with a bushing to glue in that allows for unscrewing.   (This is the most expensive portion of the project-Item number NA4507, $6.75 and NA4506, $2.50)
   After that, the project was shelved for more than a year, mainly due to a move and other projects associated with a move (landscaping all over again!).
   During this interlude, I dropped the bone, chipping/cracking one end.  To remedy this, I cut the bone, using the other end for buttons, Conchos and a plethora of other projects.  Then came the day of inspiration, I had just bought some BBQ wood for the smoker.  I had opted for a southwest batch of ribs, chicken and turkey, so I bought a big bag of mesquite chunks.  Two caught my eye as being a nice size and solid.  I squared and edge with the miter saw and carefully ran it through the table saw, giving me two nice slabs of mesquite planks about 4" square and 1" thick.  I felt this was an ideal wood to plug the ends of my bone flask, and I now refer to it as a Texas flask.   
   Not knowing if my bone was fully water tight, I did a quick spray of the interior with some spray urethane, not sure if it is necessary, but just in case.  At this point, I grabbed some wax, (this is actually a big ball of wax I have kept from cheese.  It really never gets too hard and a little hand manipulation allows it to be molded or shaped as needed.  Comes in real handy at times and I keep a baseball sized chunk in my garage.)  I rolled the wax out to a fairly even thickness and then pressed each end of my bone into the wax.  This gave me a fairly precise outline of the interior hole.   This I then transcribed onto the mesquite.  Using the grout cutter attachment to my dremel, I routed out the wood, to form the plugs.   A rasp was used to remove the outer portions.   I then positioned the hole for the bushing, and drilled it.   I now shot the interior wood with a little urethane to seal them as well.   
   While my method with the wax gave me a tight fit, I went ahead and used clear epoxy to put the plugs in place, knowing a belt sander would be needed to true up the edges.  I did complete the sanding process with the belt sander and then by hand.  I then used some Birchwood Casey finishing product for the wood and then polished the bone with steel-wool, followed by a buffing with the dremel.   Here are some pics. 

[Silent Joe]

Nice pictures, Mogorilla. You've done a great job and the result is beautiful and lookes very authentic.

[Doc Neeley]

Nice horn pard.
I make powder horns and shot horns, and a faster and (I think easier) way to plug a horn I learned while trying to figure out how flat powder horns were made, is to do a double plug in each end. Just rough cut a internal plug. Doesn't matter if it's air tight or not. Peg or pin the internal plug and sand it flat. Rough cut the plug for the end larger than the horn (again it doesn't have to be precise) and sand that flat on one side. If you have a belt sander that makes it fast and easy. Coat the mating surfaces with contact cement and glue them together. When dry, sand off all the excess and shape the plug. I use pine for the internal plug and maple, cherry, walnut, etc. for what will show externally.
I figured this out while trying to figure out how original horns could mate so perfectly in the horn and one day I noticed the butt end of the plugs had a couple pins in them.
Good luck and again, nice horn.

[Cuzzin Jack]

You know, Mogorilla, that gives me an idea for a knife hilt. My old grandpa had a homemade knife with knuckle ended bone hilt. Lord I hadn't thought of that old knife for years. Wonder what ever became of it? Thanks for the memory!                                                                                                                                                                                                   Cuzzin Jack

[Mogorilla]

Great idea Doc.  I have two more bones (one a nicely aged leg bone dug from the ground.  It has been in there at least 20 years, great aged color).  That sounds muche easier than the router and handfitting I did.   Thanks.