Antler pen tutorial?

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JerryO

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I recently recieved several antlers and want to make some pens from them. Does anyone know of an online tutorial featuring antler pens. I do have a fair amount of pen turning experience (though small when compared to the esteemed members here[:I]). Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks.
Jerry
 
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Jerry,

Antler stinks. As in smells very poorly!!!

Turn like a hard plastic, very sharp tools. If you have a dust collector, the smell can go "away from you" and life is better.

Cutting the antler can be a challenge - whitetail deer did not cooperate when they decided to have the rack "curvy" instead of straight. Look for areas that are about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter and relatively straight - measure with the tubes you are going to use, see where it will fit. Cut on bandsaw, if you have one.

Remember that antler "bark" (the outside part) is desirable in the finished pen, so if you can incorporate it while turning, do so.

I'm sure you'll get lots more info from those who have turned more of it than I have, but this is a start.[:p][:p]
 
Jerry, Ed has got it down real good. Turn as you wood any other hard material and keep tool sharp! Use ventilation as some times it does STINK! Sometime you end up with Marrow, which is open and pouros, you caN apply CA to this area prior to sanding and it smooths out just fine.
Good luck !!
 
I find drilling the toughest part. I drill on the lathe with a Jacobs chuck. Once get the antler mounted I turn the lathe on slow and look down on it to see if the solid part (as opposed to shadow) is going to be large enough to drill without blowing out the sides.

Others will tell you to mount it between centers and turn it round before drilling. I haven't tried this method but seems like you would still have to do what I do above to make sure you are going to have enough to drill.
 
Bruce,
Your way works fine!! The advantage to "rough turning to roundish" between centers is it allows you to put the antler in a chuck to drill the hole - not a necessity, but can be helpful.
 
I like to turn the antler round between centers before drilling. It makes it much easier to drill. And with curved pieces of antler, you can play around with where you locate your centers so that you have the best chance of drilling without blowing out the side of the antler. Try this: mount the antler piece between centers, and turn the lathe on. You can "see" where the surfaces of the antler will end up in relationship to the center. You can stop the lathe and re-position the blank to improve the amount of "center" in the blank.

Have fun!

Scott.
 
rherell, thanks for the link. That's exactly what I was looking for! Thanks everyone for your input.
 
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