At 12:41 AM 6/14/99 +0000, you wrote:
>Hello Paul,
> My name is *******, while searching for information on the
>construction of a Shofar I ran across your inquiries. If you ever found
>the proper instructions ( i.e.. mouth piece orifice dimension etc.) I
>would be grateful if you could pass them along to me. I also am
>interested in making a Shofar. Please respond if possible, Thanks.

From my reply I have created the following page:

Dear Shofar aspirant
The Shofar is mentioned over 80 times in the bible as either a ram's horn or trumpet. The ram's horn is most commonly used, second most commonly used horn is the Yemenite shofar taken from an African antelope called the Kudu. The first time the shofar is mentioned is in Exodus 19:16-19 when the Israelites had gathered at Mt. Sinai.  The “voice of the trumpet (shofar) sounded exceeding loud” and “waxed louder and louder”. According to the Torah in Exodus 20:18 the sound was so penetrating that the people could actually “see the sounds”!

The Voice of the Shofar

THE USE OF THE SHOFAR IN THE BIBLE

    The references to shofar, trumpets, rams’ horns, coronets, etc. are extensive and prominent
throughout the Bible and God's dealings with His people.
The list below is by no means complete.

 1) The ram's horn, the shofar, is a reminder of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac and God's provision
of a ram as a substitute.    Genesis 22:13
 2) The Torah was given to Israel with the sound of the shofar from heaven.  Exodus 19:19
 3) The shofar was blown at the start of the year of Jubilee on Yom Teruah.  Leviticus 25:9-10
 4) The trumpet was blown to announce the beginning of the festivals.  Numbers 10:10
 5) Israel conquered in the battle of Jericho with the blast of the shofar.  Joshua 6:20
 6) Gideon and his army confused and scattered the enemy with the shofar. Joshua 7:15-22
 7) The shofar was blown to signal the assembly of the Israelites during war. Judges 3:27, 6:34, II Samuel 20:1, Jer. 4:19, 51:27, Neh. 4:20, Amos 3:6
 8) Seven shofarot (pl) were blown before the ark of God.  1Chr. 15:24, 2Sam. 6:15
 9) They took an oath before the Lord…..with trumpets and rams’ horns.   2Chr. 15:14
10) The shofar was used for the coronation of kings. I.e. King Solomon.  I Kings 1:34, 39
11) The shofar is a reminder that God is sovereign.   Psalm 47:5
12) The shofar was blown to celebrate the new moon each month. Psalm 81:1-3
13) The shofar was used to accompany other musical instruments during  temple ceremonies in Jerusalem and in praise and worship.  Psalm 98:6, 150:3-6
14) The shofar will be blown at the time of the ingathering of the exiles to Israel.  Isaiah 27:13
15) The blowing of the shofar is a signal for the call to repentance.  Isaiah 58:1, Hosea 8:1
16) The shofarot were blown as a warning. Ezekiel 33:3-6, Numbers 10:9, Isaiah 18:3
17) The blowing of the shofar ushers in the day of the Lord. Joel 2:1
18) The shofar is blown to call the sacred assembly.     Numbers 10:3, Joel 2:15
19) Israel will be advised of the advent of the Messiah with the sound of the shofar. Zechariah 9:14, 16
20) The shofar is sounded at the resurrection of the dead     I Thess. 4:16
21) The shofar (trumpet) is the sound of God's voice.     Revelation 1:10
22) John was taken up to Heaven in the Book of Revelation by the sound of the shofar.  Revelation 4:1 .
23) Seven trumpets (shofarot) are sounded when God judges the earth during the tribulation. Revelation 8-9

Judaism concerns itself with three shofar calls of God.  They are called the first trump, the last trump and the great trump.
 The first trump was blown at Mount Sinai.  The last trump is blown to signify the resurrection of the dead and may be blown on Rosh HaShanah.  The great trump will signify the Second Coming of the Lord and is blown at Yom Kippur.  According to other scholars, there are only two trumps, the first at Mount Sinai (Ex 19:19). and the last (great) that is blown by God (Yeshua) Himself at His return on Yom Kippur.  (Isaiah 27:13, Zech. 9:14, Matt. 24:29-3I, 1st Thess. 4:16-17, 1st Cor. 15:52).

Talmudic ref
Talmud, Rosh Hashanah, 26b, 29b

Origin of the word Shofar:

The word means "bright," and may have been so called from the clear, shrill sound it emitted. It was often used
 

How to make
Clear out the shell of the horn "keratin" by boiling of soaking in chemicals (In the journal of 'Biological Museum Methods' Vol. 1 Page 331 it mentions to boil the skull with horns for about 30 minutes and the horns should twist off, than scrap clean the inside, sprinkle with borax., please note  that the process of steaming or boiling permitted, according to the rabbi's??.) And I have no reason to assume that during the Biblical / Talmudic period chemicals where used, the other option is to leave the horns in the ground as the micros and worms will clear the inside out.

Now the mouth-piece can be crafted.
In the case of a rams horn, once the cartilage is removed it needs to be shaped  to soften the horn use hot oil or by steaming and form into the tradition "j" shape, and by flattening the side..

To make the mouth piece.
First measure the hollow depth of the horn from the  opening with a bent wire. Lining up the bent wire along the outer length of the shofar, mark off where the wire reaches from the opening of the horn. Measuring 1 1/2 inch or more (depending on the degree of curvature) from that mark towards the pointy tip of the horn, then mark the place where you will cut of the tip of the shofar with a coping saw. The cut must be perpendicular to the length of the shofar. Once the pointy tip is cut of, a blunt flat surface results. The mouthpiece is now created with a 3/16", 6 six inch long bit on a variable speed drill. Aim the drill in the centre of the flat end of the horn. Gradually the drill should be accelerated so that it cuts a narrow hole along the body of the shofar until it penetrates into the hollow of the shofar.

NOTE: if you use a drill at a sharp angle (not parallel to the body of the horn), you may cut the side of the horn, rendering the horn invalid for ritual use.

The Narrow hole that is created by the drill must be enlarged, tradition knife cut to create a conical or cup shaped hollow. The cone shaped opening helps ensure that a minimal volume of air can be forcefully blown through the canal with little effort and still resonate the shofar sufficiently  to sound it clearly. The wider the canal, the easier it is to blow.
You will need to polish the mouth piece with a buffer.

Hope this is useful...
And please inform me if you have more information, and if you have made it I would appreciate "hearing" from you with a fuller description.

Paul

ps. the Rabbi who did reply to me wrote "contact your local Chabad during August / September as they run workshops usually every year."

"Historical Brass society newsletter Issue 7 pages 13/14
Title:           How to make a shofar
Author:       Michale Albukerk

'Biological Museum Methods' Vol. 1 Page 331
 
 

The Tenth Benediction of the Daily Amidah

This prayer unit, called "Kibbutz Galuyot - Ingathering of the Dispersed," reads:
Sound the great shofar [to proclaim] our freedom, Lift up a banner for the ingathering of our exiles, And bring us together from the four corners of the earth. Blessed art Thou, Lord, who gathers together the dispersed of His people Israel [quoted in Donin 1980:88].

The Shofar is the ritual instrument of the ancient and modern Hebrews, the only Hebrew cultural instrument to have survived until now. Of martial origin, the shofar was a priestly instrument in Biblical times. According to the Mishnah, two different forms of shofar were used in the Temple: one made of ibex horn, its bell ornamented with gold, was sounded at New Year and during the Yovel Days; one made of ram's horn, with silver ornamentation, was sounded on fast days. We learn from the Mishnah and the Talmud that in the Hellenistic period no improvements or modifications that might affect the tone were permitted: no gold-plating of its interior, no plugging of holes, no alteration of its length (the minimum permissible length of a ritually approved horn was 3 handbreadths); the shofar tone was to be preserved unaltered. Nor was the process of steaming or boiling permitted. Apart from its liturgical uses the shofar was closely connected with magical symbolism. Its blast destroyed the walls of Jericho, and in the Dead Sea scrolls we read that during battles shofar blowers sounded a powerful war cry to instil fear into the hearts of the enemy while priests blew the six trumpets of killing. Historically the shofar has also served in a number of popular usage's: it was sounded during rites to bring rain, in the event of local disasters, and so on. In our times its liturgical use is restricted to New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).

Musica Antiqua's shofar is really a bone cornette made from a horn of an African ox. It has
six finger holes to aid playing notes between partials of the closed horn.

                          Musica Antiqua Instruments

Additional Resources:
C. Adler: 'The Shofar, its Use and Origin', Smithsonian Annual Report (1892)
S. Y. Agnon: Days of Awe (New York, 1948)
A. Sendrey: Music in Ancient Israel (New York, 1969)
S. Hofman: Miqra'ey Musica (Tel-Aviv, 1974)

SOUNDS

Tekiah A straight trumpet like blast. Described in the Mishnah (Tractate Rosh Hashanah 4:9) as signifying kingship - a major theme of Rosh Hashanah.
Teruah  Nine staccato notes blown in rapid succession, similar to the wail of a person crying in short bursts. According to one rabbinic interpretation, it represents a plea for mercy at the upcoming trial - another major theme of Rosh Hashanah.
Shevarim Three short notes (each three beats long), reflecting an alternative rabbinic interpretation that Teruah should be a moan, not a cry. Shevarim means "broken"
Tekiah Gedolah (The Great Blast) ! A long drawn out note concluding each set of blowing during the Rosh Hashanah ceremony. The rabbis described it as a sign of "divine withdrawal", based on the verse: "When the Shofar sounds long, they [the people] shall come up to the mountain..." (Exodus 19:13).

"To the house of the blowing of the trumpet (shofar)".

The reason that most shofarot smell bad is that when they are clean at the factory they cannot remove all residues from the
inside. This residue is sinew and flesh that is clinging in crevices and the smell is it decaying.

The best method of cleaning was demonstrated on a video by Dick Reuben.

• Step 1.  Buy a “nerf” ball (soft and pliable), an ear plug (the squeeze and insert type available at most drug stores), some fish tank gravel (not sand and not very big) and some alcohol.
• Step 2. Plug the mouthpiece with the earplug.  Pour in enough gravel that it can be shaken easily.  Plug the bell end with the nerf ball.
• Step 3.  Play the “moraca” (shake it hard!) for about 15 minutes.
• Step 4.  Pull out the nerf ball and empty out the gravel.  Pour about a cup of alcohol in and replace the ball.  Shake for about a minute.
• Step 5.  Pull out the ball.  Pour out the alcohol.  Remove the earplug.  Let it dry.

DO NOT let any liquid stay in too long.  If necessary use a mild bleach solution but realize it will take a few days for the
chlorine smell to dissipate.  You could also use witchhazel with spearmint but use it sparingly.  Stubborn smells can also be eliminated with odor neutralizers. 

The Shofar is the ritual instrument of the ancient and modern Hebrews, the only Hebrew cultural instrument to have survived until now. Of martial origin, the shofar was a priestly instrument in Biblical times. According to the Mishnah, two different forms of shofar were used in the Temple: one made of ibex horn, its bell ornamented with gold, was sounded at New Year and during the Yovel Days; one made of ram's horn, with silver ornamentation, was sounded on fast days. We learn from the Mishnah and the Talmud that in the Hellenistic period no improvements or modifications that might affect the tone were permitted: no gold-plating of its interior, no plugging of holes, no alteration of its length (the minimum permissible length of a ritually approved horn was 3 handbreadths); the shofar tone was to be preserved unaltered. Nor was the process of steaming or boiling
permitted.
Apart from its liturgical uses the shofar was closely connected with strong symbolism. Its blast destroyed the walls of Jericho, and in the Dead Sea scrolls we read that during battles shofar blowers sounded a powerful war cry to instil fear into the hearts of the enemy while priests blew the six "trumpets of killing". Historically the shofar has also served in a number of popular usages: it was sounded during rites to bring rain, in the event of local disasters, and so on. In our times its liturgical use is restricted to New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).
additional ref.
Author: Tickton, Jason H
Title: Sounds of the Shofar
Publication: American Music Teacher [September-October 1964 (14:1)] p.16

The sacrificial altar of the Israelites was adorned with four horns, which pointed in the four cardinal directions; they symbolized the omnipotence of God. The Israelites incorporated the pagan conceptions of the horn into their beliefs and rituals. The holy instrument of the Jews is the shofar. It is blown at Yom Kippur, the New Year Day's service. It is blown to call believers to prayer and penitence; it greets the New Moon. The sound of the shofar will announce the day of the Last Judgment. 

Abraham Ben-David Portalion, a doctor and scholar, wrote a book around 1612 in Mantua, Italy. In the chapter about old Hebrew instruments he distinguishes between the so-called "royal instruments," like the harp and other string instruments, and the minor, "bad" instruments, among which he includes the shofar. He says: "And these are the bad, inferior instruments which have no share in song: the shofar is not blown for the playing of a melody ... Its purpose is to shake the heart and not to play music."