My Latest Take on an Antler Zen

[SteveG]

This is my latest attempt at Antler-on-Zen. My design vision for the Zen does not allow for the barrel to be anything but straight (turned bushing to bushing). Previously I was less than satisfied when utilizing the surface "bark" of Axis antler due to lack of sufficient depth to show it fully. This time I stepped down the tube size to 8mm, leaving only larger standard tube segments at the ends for the components to press into. As you can see, the antler goes much deeper than a full size tube would have permitted. The Koa end accents cover the larger tube segments, and act as a buffer to offset the abrupt step up away from the hardware a bit.

 

[Jack Parker]

Nice solution Steve, it came out great!!

 

[Jgrden]

Your work with that antler in showing the 'bark'was very good. Truly a craftsman's delight.
Fantastic!

 

[southernclay]

That's awesome Steve! Well done in many ways. I made an antler zen for the last bash antler contest, felt the same and had to jazz it up a bit. Your solution crushes mine! Haha

 

[Sprung]

Great work, Steve!

(BTW - still very much enjoying the pen you made for me! It gets a lot of compliments too from people who see it on my desk or see me using it.)

 

[SteveG]

Thanks for the responses guys. I failed to ask for comments in the original post, but will do so now. All comments and opinions are welcome. I like constructive comments that motivate improvements and new ideas.

This pen was ordered by a customer after he had purchased a Zen done in Bog Oak with a nice Koa contrast accent. By his comments, he was really wanting great color and texture contrast. That is what prompted the approach of employing a smaller diameter tube so I could get the increased working depth. This will be my regular approach for antler on Zen from now onward. It is too bad the Zen component set is not designed to use a smaller diameter tube as that would allow for a lot of imbed casting opportunities on that nice long tube.

 

[FourOaksCrafts]

Very well done and creative!!

 

[Sataro]

Great job on that one. The Koa really sets it off!