How to make a shepherd's hook crane

[Jerry B.]

Some will see this as a blatantly obvious attempt to get my Gourd-O-Horns in front of its adoring public. But that's not true. OK, maybe just a little bit and just in time for any Christmas orders. The Gourd-O-Horn's beauty lies in its gorgeous curves provided only by Mother Nature. The natural beauty of the curves are accentuated when the Gourd-O-Horn hangs from a shepherd's hook crane. Also there are other lesser artificial man made horns that would benefit from hanging from a shepherd's hook style crane. The following is an easy way for you to make a shepherd's hook crane.

1- Find the distance from the crane to the loop on the horn where the crane's chain attaches. On my Gem I purchased a brass welding rod that perfectly fits the hole for the crane. I placed the rod into the crane hole so it sticks up vertically.

2- Next I held the horn along with a short length of rubber tubing attached to the small end of the horn. After attaching the rubber connector to the reproducer, while still holding the horn, I measured the distance from the hanging loop on the horn to the vertical rod.

3- This distance is the diameter of the round object you'll bend your rod around.

4- I found a fairly slender metal street light pole that fit my needs.

CAUTION: Do not bend the rod in the middle because the majority of the crane is straight. You might short yourself by bending it in the middle.

5- I placed the welding rod on the other side of the pole. With my right hand gripping the end of the rod and my left hand gripping the rod somewhere in the middle, in one continuous motion I pulled the rod around the pole towards me.

6- Check the distance from the end of the hook to the vertical portion of the crane. If the distance is not perfect you may be able to change the length of the rubber connector or make a minor correction bend in the hook portion of the crane.

7- I placed the end of the hook on my vice and tapped both sides to flatten it a bit. That made it easy to drill a nice hole for the chain.

8- Lastly, I cut the end of the long portion of the shepherd's hook so it looked nice with a modest amount of chain to the horn.

Here are photos of my Gem B with a Gourd-O-Horn. One is with an angular crane (which is easier to make) and the other with a shepherd's hook crane. Which do you like better? Thanks for your opinions either way.

Jerry Blais

[Curt A]

They both look great and enhance your Gourd-O-Horn...

[alang]

I agree, the shepherd's hook crane adds to the natural beauty of your Gourd-O-Horn. I also really like the Kokopele decoration on the horn.

Andreas

[AudioFeline]

I love the texture and colour inside the horn.
Well done.

[tomb]

I like both too but I lean a little on the shepherds hook. I think it compliments the horn. Both are a little unique. Tom