More Antler ???'s

[Wheaties]

So I want to make a pentel out of deer antler. I found a decent sized piece in hopes of straightening it enough to make it work. I boiled it for 25 min and clamped the crap out of it between boards. Came back 3-4 hours later and found it cracked. It seems to just be a surface crack though. It was straighter, but not straight enough for a 4"+ piece. Can I boil it again and try and straighten it more?

Maybe I just have to find a piece that is almost straight to begin with. Which I don't have. Or should I just file this one under "lost-cause"?

 

[jaeger]

My question, does it have to be all antler? Can you live with segmenting in a piece of antler with another favorite material?
Lets face it, it's hard enough to drill through 2" of crooked antler much less 4" of crooked broken antler.
I have never boiled antler, so I can't tell you what to expect. I have segmented antler and I like it.

 

[Wheaties]

That's a good point. I was hoping to make it all antler, but it may just be not all that plausible. Segmenting is probably my best option. I could segment 2 pieces of antler together? I don't know. Maybe I'll let this one percolate in the ol' noggin for a while?

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Zack, let me look and see if I have a 4 inch straight piece and I'll pm you for your address.

 

[tool-man]

You only need two 2" pieces (for slimlines), not one 4" piece. Even if you were able to fine a straight 4" piece, cut it in half and you then will be drilling through only 2".

What I have done is cut up the antler into pieces of pen blanks, drill and turn them, and then pair them together. I find that I can match two pieces from the same deer fairly well even they are not adjacent pieces of the antler.

.....Lets face it, it's hard enough to drill through 2" of crooked antler much less 4" of crooked broken antler......

 

[workinforwood]

I sent Dawn a couple pieces of white tail antler that is long long ago nice and dry, solid core and at least one of them will definitely be straight enough and beefy enough to score a 4" long bore. Thing about boiling it is that now it is no longer dry. It takes a lot longer than people think for antler to be nice and dry and it sure sucks to find a pen 6-12 months later with a big crack in it! If Roy doesn't have what you need, call Dawn and tell her to check that big box that just showed up at her door from me.

 

[jaeger]

That's a good point. I was hoping to make it all antler, but it may just be not all that plausible. Segmenting is probably my best option. I could segment 2 pieces of antler together? I don't know. Maybe I'll let this one percolate in the ol' noggin for a while?

If you do segment, I would suggest a piece of aluminum, brass or copper in between each piece.

 

[jskeen]

I may have a piece around here that I can manage to drill for a pentel. Let me look and see if I can pull it off. If so I'll let you know and we can work out a trade. One question. do you want the finished pen to be as much solid white antler as possible, or is some marrow better for you. I doubt that I can manage no marrow at all in any case, but can try to minimize if you prefer.

 

[scroller99]

I used 357 shell casings and antler to make a pen it came out nice and was immediately sold? you never can tell? good luck with the antler I love turning it

 

[JoeHodge1978]

When dealing with antler,I usually sand the opposite side of the bow on my bench sander till I get a flat side.Then I put the flat side down and sand the bottom flat on my disk sander.This gives me a 90 degree angle to clamp in my drill press.9 out of 10 times I get a well centered hole.