Over on the Horner's Bench forum we were discussing how to seal a butt plug in a horn when one fella chipped in with his reason for not using adhesives. Seems he had his horn explode while he was wearing it. So as not to reinvent the wheel so to speak, here is where to find the post, about 2/3 of the way into the thread...
http://thehornersbench.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=horns&thread=3074&page=1
knappinman is one very luck person. Makes me rethink if I will reseal a horn I recently purchased. It too is not airtight. May need to seal with beeswax as described. With me, anything that can go wrong, MOST ASSUREDLY Will GO WRONG. Its like carrying an activated hand grenade on my hip.
Thanks for the post Rev.
Never thought of it from the standpoint of the plug being a sort of safety valve if sealed only with beeswax. Given the injury that Knappinman sustained, anyhow, if the plug had been secured with glue and as a result still more of the explosive force had exited through the sides of the horn, carrying with it shards of horn.... Damn. Ouch.
Just as a historical aside, Captain John Smith's tenure in the New World ended when the powder flask he wore suspended over his chest (apparently a standard practice in the early, early days) blew up. He was using a matchlock musket and circumstantial evidence would indicate the flask was possibly unplugged/uncapped, and stray sparks from the glowing match entered the open container. I recall reading that much of the hide and meat over Smith's ribs, throat, and lower jaw was shredded by the blast, and he was initially expected to die within a short, painful time. He didn't, but his recovery in England was no doubt a prolonged and agonizing process.
This stuff is certainly not to be trifled with. There is a very good reason why black powder is the controlled and regulated substance it is. We tend to forget that when grumbling about the difficulty and expense of acquiring it, but everything associated with its manufacture, use, and storage has about it the very real potential for disaster.
We had one a few week's ago in Lansing Mich,Eric wasn't injured at all. I'm a firm beliver in NOT glueing the base plug in for THIS reason.
(http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss42/pathfinder_01/th_LansingHornBlownup031_zps39a99079.jpg) (http://s560.photobucket.com/user/pathfinder_01/media/LansingHornBlownup031_zps39a99079.jpg.html)
(http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss42/pathfinder_01/th_LansingHornBlownup034_zps14e5d78a.jpg) (http://s560.photobucket.com/user/pathfinder_01/media/LansingHornBlownup034_zps14e5d78a.jpg.html)