A few new antler clicks.

[orbit308]

A couple of new antler pens I did for some guys at work. I've really gotten away from wood since it's South Texas and everybody loves Whitetail antlers. The one on the left has the click mechanism from Richard Greenwald, the rest are Long Clickers. The colors of the hardware were requested, so that wasn't up to me.

 

[qquake]

Really nice!

 

[Rink]

Very nice pens. How did you finish them? Is it ok to not apply any finish at all to antler?

 

[orbit308]

Thanks... Lots of CA. I use the part closest to the base of the antler so it's very porous sometimes. You have to pretty much stabilize it as you go. The finish is 5-10 coats of CA sanded and polished with plastic polish. I've never tried it with no finish, being that I turn them down from about a 2" diameter to 12mm. I think the oils from your hands and everyday dirt would ruin even a very polished un-finished antler within time. Even just a few coats of thin CA would be better than nothing.

 

[Sappheiros]

Very nice looking pens!

 

[Rink]

thanks for the notes on finishing. I have a couple small found pieces of antler, hope to use it soon. I wonder if anyone "stabilizes" porous antler?

 

[BSea]

On the kitless one, did you use an insert that you threaded, or did the antler take threads?

Great job on all those! :good:

 

[orbit308]

Well, that one was a 3/8" tube from a Long Clicker. I used a thick walled brass tube as an insert in the top that I threaded for the clicker. It worked pretty good, except for having to shorten the body of the tube in order for the cartridge to clear the tip. I'm trying to find an extension for Greenwald's clicker before I do any more so they won't end up so short.

On the kitless one, did you use an insert that you threaded, or did the antler take threads?

Great job on all those! :good:

 

[BSea]

Well, that one was a 3/8" tube from a Long Clicker. I used a thick walled brass tube as an insert in the top that I threaded for the clicker. It worked pretty good, except for having to shorten the body of the tube in order for the cartridge to clear the tip. I'm trying to find an extension for Greenwald's clicker before I do any more so they won't end up so short.

It's pretty easy to turn your own extensions. I've done that in the past. But there is a downside. The mechanism is all brass, and when you extend the length of the pen, it isn't as balanced.

 

[orbit308]

Well, the rod diameter on the Schmidt clicker is 3.4mm. I was thinking maybe an aluminum extension, but attaching it to the rod is another question. I don't really want to epoxy or jb weld it due to possible future failure. Threading would be great, but it's a very small part and keeping it straight might prove difficult. It has a flat groove, but I think a set screw would eventually fail also. I'd really like to extend it 1/2". Any ideas?

Well, that one was a 3/8" tube from a Long Clicker. I used a thick walled brass tube as an insert in the top that I threaded for the clicker. It worked pretty good, except for having to shorten the body of the tube in order for the cartridge to clear the tip. I'm trying to find an extension for Greenwald's clicker before I do any more so they won't end up so short.

It's pretty easy to turn your own extensions. I've done that in the past. But there is a downside. The mechanism is all brass, and when you extend the length of the pen, it isn't as balanced.

 

[BSea]

The extension I made just slides into the end of the refill. The problem is that it's easy to loose when the refill is changed. This is the way the old model sierra clicks handled the extra length. They supplied an extra one in the kit. You might ask and see if anyone has a few extras.

Another method is to buy the internal mechanism and turn your own button. The pen in my avatar uses this mechanism. This has it's own issues though.