newbie needs advice.....

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stonepecker

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Of course, I just started learning to turn pens. Still have a lot to learn. ONE of my friends pops up with "I am sending you some antler. Make me a pen."
OH GREAT !!! I love the idea but I am still learning. Any advice for someone that has never turned any kind of antler.

All help is much appreciated.
 
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Have your friend learn how to make pens!
Antler needs to be dry, marrow stabilized and/or removed. It will crack and smells like burned hair when turning...guess whats it's made of? Sharp and slow. I like a finish, CA or whatever floats your boat. Take your time, but IMHO...it's not for newer turners.
 
Antler takes a lot of time. Like said, it has some qualities that IMHO are just not worth it, it will dull your tools, it's no where close to balance to start with, it's a pain to drill, it's smelly, it's itchy, it's like chiseling granite, and many many more.....

With all that said, I do turn antler, but only for the "special" (almost have too) request. I have a set of old Buck Wood chisels, I believe those suckers will turn steel and not dull. Once I get down about 1/4" from finish I will shift over to a good sharp skew.

Best advise; turn 50 pens before trying antler. That way you have a pretty good feel for how your tools/equipment is suppose to respond.

I in no means am trying to steer you away from antler, just don't want you to get burned out on it from the start. It takes a lot of work, and when done right, a truly remarkable piece of work.
 
:biggrin::biggrin: Hardest part about making an antler pen, is finding a piece long enough, round enough, and straight enough to get your blanks out of. Drill slowely and get ready for the smell !! Turns like any wood if dry. Needs sharp tools to do a good job. I use my micro mini metal lathe, so out of round is never a problem. Turning any object is only as hard as you make it. Plan well and take your time. I prefer to polish and than apply a wax coat over that to keep a more natural look. If you have a blank with a hole, dent, or crack in it, fill with Ca, sand, and polish or do a CA finish. And it is true what they say, " The older the buck, the stiffer the horn ". Older bucks will usualy have larger and harder antlers. Happy turning !!! Jim S
 
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Antler is bone. Antler is not the same material as hair and finger nails. Horn, on the other hand, is the same material as hair and fingernails. What is the difference in antler and horn? Antler is shed each year and regrows and horn is permanent. Deer and elk have antler and cattle, sheep, goats, and the like have horns. Yes, we call them deer horn but they are antlers, not horns.

Different species (that have antler) have different amounts of bone marrow inside and solid bone on the outside. Elk antlers have lots of marrow and little hard bone. Whitetail and mule deer have more solid bone and less marrow in their antler. Axis deer antler is my favorite. Axis antlers are straight and solid bone with very small vein of bone marrow, often about the same diameter as #2 pencil lead.

Yes, antler is hard but does turn quite nicely. And yes, there is an odor. To some t it is an awful smell and to others not so bad.

Do a youtube search and you will find some videos on making pens with antler and how to drill antler.

Good luck and your friend will love his pen. I have made many antler pens and none (that I know of) have cracked. Water buffalo horn, on the other hand, is a different story, and material.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
 
its_virgil said:
Antler is bone. Antler is not the same material as hair and finger nails. Horn, on the other hand, is the same material as hair and fingernails. What is the difference in antler and horn? Antler is shed each year and regrows and horn is permanent. Deer and elk have antler and cattle, sheep, goats, and the like have horns. Yes, we call them deer horn but they are antlers, not horns.

Different species (that have antler) have different amounts of bone marrow inside and solid bone on the outside. Elk antlers have lots of marrow and little hard bone. Whitetail and mule deer have more solid bone and less marrow in their antler. Axis deer antler is my favorite. Axis antlers are straight and solid bone with very small vein of bone marrow, often about the same diameter as #2 pencil lead.

Yes, antler is hard but does turn quite nicely. And yes, there is an odor. To some t it is an awful smell and to others not so bad.

Do a youtube search and you will find some videos on making pens with antler and how to drill antler.

Good luck and your friend will love his pen. I have made many antler pens and none (that I know of) have cracked. Water buffalo horn, on the other hand, is a different story, and material.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
Click to expand...
Well said, I concur.
 
No favorite tool yet. I just got a carbide from CS last week. It will be under the tree next week from the wife.
I have made just 3 pens so far.....all slimlines. I am thinking this might be a good one for a single tube pen. I just don't know which one.
This antler is from this years shed. I can get another one from my dad's collection and let the other one dry for a year or more. I like the idea of doing 50 other pens before I tackle this but needed to ask as I am green as they come.

Anymore advice? I am watching this closely. Happy Holidays Everyone.
 
I have been using the 'riverwood' set that came with the lathe.

When you say "s l o w".....just how slow are we talking about? I have been told that faster is safer.
 
I turn antler fast and use a skew. But, again, I use a skew for most all materials from start to finish. A rough out gouge also works fine.

When you say "shed this year" do you mean recently or back in Jan or Feb of this year? I didn't know that deer were already shedding but then again, I'm not a hunter or wildlife expert. Maybe some are already shedding...it is almost winter and the rut is over...I think.

Don
 
hunter-27 said:
its_virgil said:
Antler is bone. Antler is not the same material as hair and finger nails. Horn, on the other hand, is the same material as hair and fingernails. What is the difference in antler and horn? Antler is shed each year and regrows and horn is permanent. Deer and elk have antler and cattle, sheep, goats, and the like have horns. Yes, we call them deer horn but they are antlers, not horns.

Different species (that have antler) have different amounts of bone marrow inside and solid bone on the outside. Elk antlers have lots of marrow and little hard bone. Whitetail and mule deer have more solid bone and less marrow in their antler. Axis deer antler is my favorite. Axis antlers are straight and solid bone with very small vein of bone marrow, often about the same diameter as #2 pencil lead.

Yes, antler is hard but does turn quite nicely. And yes, there is an odor. To some t it is an awful smell and to others not so bad.

Do a youtube search and you will find some videos on making pens with antler and how to drill antler.

Good luck and your friend will love his pen. I have made many antler pens and none (that I know of) have cracked. Water buffalo horn, on the other hand, is a different story, and material.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
Click to expand...
Well said, I concur.
Click to expand...

I agree with Don. I turn antler pens and don't find them very difficult to turn at all. I hone between grinding and it works just fine. The smell is not as bad as some resin, at least to me, and it makes beautiful pens. Especially if you can leave some of the outside edge.
 
This antler was "shed" just a couple weeks ago. I plan to let it dry for a year at least.

Question? After it is dry, can it be cut on the bandsaw? Is it better to cut it now and then let it dry?
 
Common practice is to allow them to dry for 6-8 months; I try at least a year. Just make sure you put them in a place mice/rats can't get to them, they like to chew them away.

Leave them whole, cut on a bandsaw or hacksaw.
 
Someone up there likes me. Recieved a special delivery box today with 3 piece of antler. 2 are solid and one was a lesson in drilling it straight. LOL The drill bit passed to close to the side and is paper thin. Way to thin to turn. But laying on my bench/desk it will be a constant memory of what to do right....and a memory of a friendship that is just beginning.
As requested....no names will be mentioned. Just want to say "Thank you" to a good friend and gentleman.
 
Hello, all. My name is Brian and I'm new to these forums, although I've been gleaning all sorts of information from them in my month and a half turning pens. I can't thank you all enough for the wealth of content you post.

Stonepecker, I recently undertook an antler pen for my father's birthday. Some folks in your thread mentioned filling voids and such with CA. That's what I did, but I got the idea from this Russ Fairfield YouTube video:

Russ Fairfield's Uses for CA Glue - YouTube

I worked like a charm for me. I tried to drill off-center to incorporate both the marrow and bone for more visual interest. The pen turned out really nicely. It was a Woodcraft stainless steel Liberty pen. I have not figured out how to post pictures yet, or I would.

Don, that was great info about the antler; the axis deer, in particular. I knew their antlers were generally desirable for being straight-ish. Didn't know they contained less marrow. I did come by a water buffalo horn blank I was looking forward to turning, but your comment was ominous, haha.

Anyway, I digress. Hope that helps. Best of luck on your pen!
 
stonepecker

Just had a discussion on antler on another forum. So heres the copy.
There are many other approaches but this works for me.

I've mostly had real good results with antler. I make qute a few antler pens as they are popular.

After I cut a piece of antler I mark where I want the drill holes to be on each end and then turn it on centers until round. Sometimes I use a Stanly Four Way file along with my tools to do this. Don't know how normal that is but thats what I do. I use a Woodchuck carbide blade tool for almost everything. Mostly with an R2 blade. Turning on centers until round will help get your holes exactly where you want them and also helps you get some idea of what the antler will look like or if it has more marrow than you care for before you waste time gluing up pen tubes on something you don't like. Antler pieces can be short so I use an extra rest that I cut down so I can bring the tail stock in real close.

Next I take the antler off the lathe, put it in the blank vice and drill it. After the tubes are set and its squared off it goes on a mandrel and is turned relatively close to the final shape.

At this point the antler is inspected and CA is applied if their are any soft or fuzzy areas and turned down to size stopping frequently to see if additional CA might be needed. I use thin CA exclusively. Then its sanded through all the paper grits ( applying a little CA if still needed) and then through the micro mesh pads. At this point the antler should more or less appear finished and only need additional CA for final sealing and protection or adding a little more shine.

Next with the lathe off I apply CA with a paper towel turning the lathe by hand moving quickly back and forth with light pressure and only long enough to evenly coat the work piece with a thin coat CA. Go easy with the CA. You don't need much as the porous areas if any are already sealed. If necessary give the antler a very light sanding with the lathe on with the highest grit possible work back up through what ever grits are left to fix any defect and reapply CA.

Hopefully only two or three coats are needed with out sanding because often sanding removes most of what you just put on. Usually I like to finish material like antler to more of a a rich luster rather than a thick super shiney finish. If you like that better you can add more coats of CA until you get the depth and shine your after. Or use medium CA after the first coat of thin. But each coat should be checked for defects as you go. Antler shines up really well with just a little CA.

Then finally with lathe on polish with a Plastic Polish.

When it comes to finish on antler and most natural materials I'm in the less is more camp. Protect it, polish it, but and let the material speak for itself.

What ever your preferred finish process is I think the main thing is to use CA to fill and harden soft areas as you go and you want your antler to be ultra smooth and virtually finished in appearances before applying coats of CA as a finish.

No real special trick or new insight but this process has given me consistent and excellent results with out screwing up much material. As you go you might experiment with several different brands of CA to see what works best for you too.


Bruce
 
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