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Paul S wrote :

"...Jessie, you know I am not a horn guy. I played with horns for 5 years, and I have heard plenty of them, and so far none have worked for me, musically.  But I have remained mindful of horns' potential, and I keep coming back to that, for various reasons..." 

Paul, first thanks again for the input, and second, watch out...One of my objectives in pursuing this project is to get you back into horns!

"...Perhaps you could figure the circumference of your big horn at given lengths and thereby turn the form(s)/mold(s) in sections..."

Ok I lied when I said "no the large horns will not be turned"... I am able to turn big chunks, and at one point was thinking (once again) exactly as you suggest (are you a Taurus or what?)... The original construction process I had in mind was in fact to turn one 1/8th segment of the large end (see CAD images in previous posts)... Regardless of the final material used for the actual horn, I still may end up "turning" the mold from plaster.

See below a large chunk of the tool I turned/molded (keep wanting to spell it like in French "mou...") for the Upper-Bass horn :

Above : The clients visiting my workshop checking on progress... On
the table is part of the tool I use to make the Upper-Bass horns... It is
turned and molded... From here I make a 2-piece "female" copy, into
which I load the plaster and hemp for the actual horn.



Above : Same but end view (the photo is sort of pixelated, making the horn
look rough... In reality it is not... I however really do look this rough)


Above : Same but showing interior (on the right is the internal forming
tool, which serves only once, so its constructino is rather thin by comparison;
just enough to do the job one time.)

BTW, these are my disposable "horn-making-clothes"... In all future photos
you are likely to see me wearing these same clothes, until I throw them out...
The plaster does not come out in the wash.

"...Of the large horns I have heard, tossing out the plywood ones, only two were concrete (one poured in place, one gunnite), both "exponential", neither worth the effort, IMO, and I'm sure you would agree if you heard them. One was round, one was rectangular (no parallel walls, however).  I do not suppose for even one second that the "exponential" profile was "the cause" of the problems..."

There are many reasons why they may not have been effective, however, I would suspect throat diameter as the most often over-looked criterion.

jd*

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