The Horns: First Try

I got 1.25" PVC pipe from Home Depot, cut it to length and packed it full of sand. The idea is that if the pipe is not empty inside, it should hold its shape as it is being bent. I used end caps to keep the sand from coming out.

The first thing I did was draw out the template for a horn. Since both horns will be identical, I only had to draw one.

Then I cut out the template.

Then I placed the template on an old board I had laying around. I mounted screws into the board to act as a guide to hold the PVC as it was being shaped.

I originally tried to heat up the whole pipe and bend it all at once, but I guess my heat gun wasn't hot enough to allow the pipe to stay soft all at once. So I ended up having to concentrate the heat on one area, bend that area and then move on to the next spot.

The result was okay, but not as smooth as I wanted it. I think I needed to pack the sand a little tighter. Hopefully that will stop the pipe from crimping up so much.

It was a good start, but I need to try again and see if I can refine my technique. Tasha thought the 1.25" pipe was too thick, so I'm going to get some 1" pipe and give that a try.