filling antler with CA

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george

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Jan 17, 2006
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Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Ok, I have enogh. Must ask for some advice. I turn my first antler pen last week, it went great. The "blank" was almost all white, which ment no porosity material (little hole). And I thought:" Well, this antler pens will be made faster than wooden". Yeah, right.

So this time, it is a piece of antler which is almost all grey colour when turned down to app. diameter, and it is of course full of little holes (pores). I looked at some threads and tutorials on fiiling it with thin CA, and so far I have done this about 10 times, but some pores are still open. Man.
I even used medium CA one time, but still no good. It is like thin CA would not want to go inside the hole (?????)

How do you apply CA ? Is it normal that it takes so much glue ? I think I have used more CA on this pen so far that I would for 10 normal CA finishes on wood.

Thanks in advice for possbile advice.
 
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leehljp

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Feb 6, 2005
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Tunica, Mississippi,
This is where medium or thick CA and Accelerator really work well. It might ball up or make a lump if you want it confined to a single spot. If so, sand it down lightly; or turn it with very light touches with a sharp edged chisel.

For me, in situations like this, I turn my lathe very slow and pour a little medium or thick CA and spray it with the accelerator. That makes it go on smoother all around.
 

mrcook4570

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Mar 27, 2005
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Mason, WV, USA.
Create a slurry by sanding (lathe running) with 400 grit while applying thin CA over the length of the blank. The CA will seal the dust in the pores.
 

nava1uni

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San Francisco, CA, USA.
Antler is a very porous material. The holes you see on the outside are the entrances to a matrix of channels that when it was attached to the deer were how blood and nutrietnts were carried throughout the entire antler. Your thin CA is being absorbed and running through all of these channels. Thick or Jel CA with use of an accelerator will fill the holes. I use a piece of fine bubble packing material to apply the CA and that helps smooth is out and push it into the pores. I also do only a small area at a time moving from one end of the blank to the other. This helps to prevent a thick build up that must then be turned or sanded down. After it is all sealed then I do a final coat with thin CA, sand and buff and it is finished. Most antler or bone will have this problem.
 

george

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Jan 17, 2006
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458
Location
Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Thank you for answers, all. So I guess it is normal to spend as much time as for wood pen with multilayer Ca coats. At first I thought antler should be make faster, but this porousity takes quite some time. Thanks again.
 
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