Torched Steampunk Alphorn Tuned to the Key of F

As someone who loves Swiss music, yodeling, and woodworking, I always wanted to blend my skills by making an alphorn. I set out on the project very unsure I would have any success since I tend to put creativity over detail. It isn't hard to make a horn that makes noise. The thing that's not easy is tuning it to the right pitch and tone. This means making a horn stem that is extra long and shortening it until the desired pitch is achieved. Also, the wood type and thickness are critical for getting a warm, sonorous sound. I was worried that this might dampen my creativity in the process but in the end, I was pretty happy with how it sounded. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLZgPsrsen8

Although traditional alphorns are carved out of sections of solid wood, you can save yourself time and energy by making the long trunk from tapered boards glued in an octagonal shape. Thank you to Jason Talbot (permission granted) who helped immensely with measurements https://www.argobuilder.com/making-an-alphorn.html

Tools Needed

• Table Saw
• Hand Planer (electric or non)
• Joint miter (or make birds-eye joints with a table saw)
• Track Saw
• Skill Saw
• Lathe or Drill
• Caliper
• Torch

Materials Needed

• Straight-grained wood 18+mm thick (Ash, Spruce, Maple, etc.)
• Wood Glue
• Steampunk Aesthetic Materials (Leather, metal pipes, and gear&cogs)

For the horn trunk I am using Ash wood because it is lightweight, torches well, and has a pretty straight grain. To get straight-grained wood I selected a 12 ft ash log without knots. Traditionally spruce or maple is used.

I recommend if you make rough cut boards, like I did, cut them at least 18 mm thick and then sand them down to 11mm. 10 mm is the target thickness. Measure 13 mm and 45 mm on separate ends of one of your boards. Then rip in a straight line using a track saw. Once your first board is completed, you can use it as a guide to cut the rest on the table saw as shown in the third picture.

I highly recommend using a joint miter but if you can't then you can do birdsmouth joints. I simply set the lock miter angle to 22.5 and fed them through. This gives a nice octagonal trunk. When gluing it's very helpful to have a cradle to assist in creating the curve. To clamp the trunk together I used shrink wrap wound tightly around the trunk. You could also use zip ties to get it even tighter. I used clamps where the joints needed more pressure to come together.

I planed the edges on the wide end with an electric hand plane. Then I rolled the corners against the wide belt sander to do the rest. If you don't have these tools you can use a hand planer and a handheld vibrator sander.

For the bell, I printed out paper templates (credit Jason Talbot) glued them to 1/8th in plywood, and cut them using the bandsaw. Also, ring templates help immensely in gluing up the bell halves.

Now for the hard part! Please take your time with it so you don't end up with an imperfect shape like I did. I marked the circumference of both ends of the bell with my templates. Then I used a bandsaw to cut the shape and a hand planer to cut off excess. I used a wood burr grinder to get the right curves and then used a vibrator with 60 grit to finish the shaping.

First I trimmed the ends of both the bell and the trunk to ensure a close fit. I used 2p10 glue for the joint which will be strengthened when the ring is added.

With a hole saw I made a walnut ring with an inner diameter of 106mm. Ideally, you could just slide the ring in place but in my case, I needed to break it and then glue it on.

First I practiced on a scrap then used a torch wand to darken the bell. I recommend doing this step before you attach the bell so you don't have to worry about burning the ring as I did. To get the small details use a smaller torch. In the process, I also filled any cracks with white putty. Also, a darker burn will be more uniform but perhaps not as unique and rustic.

I made a 20 mm 17 mm mouthpiece using a drill for a lathe. I recommend finding a lathe or printing a mouthpiece from Jason's files for the best results (4th picture).

For a steampunk aesthetic, I cut a bicycle sprocket in half. I welded it together at a 90-degree angle and then welded a length of chain to keep floors from getting scratched. To attach the foot I welded a piece of chain across it and glued it to the bottom of the horn.

Options for finish include spar varnish, teak oil, or wood wax which is what I used. If you want to finish the inside with oil or spar varnish you can. A finishing touch I added Is adding leather bands made from a gator belt. As a bonus, you can also store extra mouthpieces in the bands if you like!!

Currently practicing playing... the hard part is getting higher pitches... the pitch turned out great although the resonance probably would have been better if I spent more time making the trunk and bell a little thinner. I am planning on making another bell from a solid piece of wood. Wish me luck!!!!!

I carved a new, proper-sized bell out of a solid log. Using an electric chainsaw turns out to be the best way I've found for carving out the bell. A hole saw works well for getting a nice round hole. I am planning on making another horn with detachable parts to use it on. For tuning the horn I experimented with different-sized mouthpieces. It's hard to know what the "home note" of a horn is but it should be the easiest note to hit and should be no lower than F and no higher than G.