Help me, Obi Wan... I mean, crafty guys

[MFP 2020]

A bit of an engineering problem for you. I have a pair of hollow plastic ram horns (from a plastic ram, obviously) that I want to attach to a flat surface. I need something that will hold a bolt so that I can fasten the nut on the other side of said flat surface and hold the horn to the surface. I was thinking of using an expanding foam, but it wouldn't be strong enough to hold the bolt. I could fill the whole thing with plaster of paris, but I don't want to add all that weight. The last resort would be to glue the horns, but I doubt it would hold up at speed (any speed). I could also use zip ties around the circumference, but I really would prefer a cleaner look.

Any ideas?

[the armourer]

I'd cut a circular piece of 1/2" plywood or hard wood to fit right inside the open end and secure it with epoxy or screws. That should give you a solid, flat base that you can run a wood screw up into to mount them without adding weight to the horn.

[MFP 2020]

Genius. The ends are irregularly shaped, but it shouldn't be hard to trace...but cutting it out is another story.

[HUMVEE Driver]

That sounds like an ideal solution to me.

HUMVEE Driver

[the armourer]

Genius. The ends are irregularly shaped, but it shouldn't be hard to trace...but cutting it out is another story.

Two words, jig saw. After tracing and before you cut, take in account the wall thickness of the plastic and cut to the inside of the line. Final fit on a belt sander or with a wood rasp. If you don't have access to the tools, take them to your local cabinet shop and tell them what you want to do and they will probably knock it out for a very reasonable price. I find that the more outrageous the project, the more they are likely to do it. I guess it's for the bragging rights when they get together with their fellow artisans. You can secure the wood plug in a variety of ways. Using J-B Weld should be invisible and plenty strong and waterproof. Me personally, I'd J-B them and then cut a thin piece of sheet metal about the same thickness of the plug wide and wrap it around the base of the horn and then secure it in place with decorative furniture tacks or even hob nails. I think brass with iron hob nails would look good for the contrast and it will patina up nice after being exposed to the elements. If you go this route, all I ask is you tell everyone who gave you the idea. (bragging rights)

[MFP 2020]

NECROPOST!

I finally got around to using the ram horns. I didn't use them on the front of my dirt bike as I'd planned; I epoxied them to my helmet and then went nuts with the Dremel. Problem solved.

How it looked before:



How it looks now:



I have a couple more things I'd like to do before I consider it finished. For me, the hardest part is breaking away from my attachment to screen accuracy (or in my case, screen possibility). But hey, it's a vintage helmet so I think I'm covered.

[tk4013]

Ha Ha! That's awsome man!