Antler Cracking Suggestions

[WoodenRanger]

Does anyone have any suggestions on why deer antler cracks sometimes. The picture below has CA finish and it did not crack until about a week after I made it. The bottom half of the pen is fine and from the same section of antler. Does it need to dry out like wood before turning? Should you turn it and let it sit awhile before putting CA on it? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[fiferb]

Any chance you pressed too hard when you put the clip and finial into the tube? Did it get too hot when drilling?

 

[rherrell]

I've made quite a few antler pens and never had one crack like that. If I had to guess I would agree with Bruce about pressing too hard,but it would just be a guess.

 

[leehljp]

If the inside of the tube has a slight bit of glue, it will cause extra expansion when the finial is pressed in.

I once tried a smaller than recommended drill bit size and made a good solid tight fit of the tube and blank. The wood didn't like it. It cracked. []

 

[gerryr]

Just from the picture I would say that either the antler wasn't milled down level with the tube or the tube was a very tight fit in the hole at that end. I've made probably close to 200 antler pens and never had one crack.

 

[WoodenRanger]

I would say that I probably had some glue in the tube. I have been using gorilla glue and I usually end up using a chainsaw file to clean out any dried excess. I was probably in too much of a hurry and didn't get all the glue out of it along with maybe pressing too hard. Thanks for the advice.

 

[kent4Him]

My suggestion is to not use GG for antler. I'm a GG fan, but not for antler. Use epoxy or thick CA. If the antler is porous(sp?), GG can fill up the pores with yellow foam. It also can put pressure on the inside of the blank as it expands.

 

[kent4Him]

My other suggestion is to send all of your antler to me.[]

 

[louisbry]

Sometimes when I am worried about pressing too hard when putting the clip and finial into the tube, I put a little paste wax on the finial. It goes into the tube easier and seems to be tight after the wax dries.

 

[Mudder]

Originally posted by kent4Him
<br />My suggestion is to not use GG for antler. I'm a GG fan, but not for antler. Use epoxy or thick CA. If the antler is porous(sp?), GG can fill up the pores with yellow foam. It also can put pressure on the inside of the blank as it expands.

Interesting point.

I use Polyurethane glue on antler and I've never had a problem. This is my procedure (I could be wrong but it works for me). I usually drill my hole a tad larger and give the glue a chance to foam out. after drilling the hole I coat the inside of the antler with thin ca and let it dry for a day or two. I re drill the hole to be sure that nothing is in the way of the tube. Being that this is is a gap filling glue and it will provide a little "give" I believe it will absorb a little bit of expansion from pressing in the finial.
I have had failures with antler using epoxy because the epoxy did not give when the finial was pressed in and it caused a "telegraph crack", which by the way looked almost exactly like the picture presented here.

I'm not saying that my method is the best or only method. I'm only saying that since I switched to this method I have not had a single piece of antler crack on me.


Another question I would have is how old was the antler? Was it completely dry? I have turned some antler from a deer that was freshly harvested and the antler cracked on me. I usually wait a year but your mileage may vary on that one.

 

[workinforwood]

That was a good sized piece of antler. Looks like a cap on a jr gent. A piece of antler that big may take more than a year to dry, especially depending on where you store your antlers. Indoors and close to the ceiling is the best spot for anything, wood or antler. If it's in a box on the cement floor, it may never dry, or if it does dry it will never be dry enough.

Today just happened to be a big antler day for me too...drilled out 40 blanks, just over half were 7mm unfortunately.

 

[WoodenRanger]

How about the flexible CA? Does any think that would work good for gluing tubes to the antler? I haven't tried any of that kind of CA yet. Thanks for all the info!

 

[TellicoTurning]

I had about 4 antler pens crack this past week.. I displayed at a show and had my pens in glass top cases.. I think they got too hot. The brass may have expanded when the antler could not..

 

[leehljp]

Originally posted by ozmandus
<br />I had about 4 antler pens crack this past week.. I displayed at a show and had my pens in glass top cases.. I think they got too hot. The brass may have expanded when the antler could not..

I would offer the suggestion here to use a rubbery glue to prevent this. I am not absolute in my opinion but it sure seems to be the most logical conclusion to the cracking is the brass/antler different expansion rates. This sounds like the snakewood and some ebony problems too.

Has anyone used a rubbery or silicone glue in their ebony, snakewood or antler pens yet?

QUESTION: Who, here on this forum is planning to do lots of antler pens in the near future? I would like to see a comparison or experiment of using expansion allowabe cements.