Antler really changed color when oiled...

[TimS124]

I was sent some old antler from a friend of a friend. These were smaller antlers so they were essentially left in a barn for who knows how long.

The surface wasn't as smooth as the other antlers I've worked with…wasn't terribly rough just felt like it had a beefy layer of dust/grime when I first handled these pieces.

The rear antler in the enclosed picture shows what the pieces looked like when I got them…mostly a dull, dusty, grey with a tiny hint of a greenish tint.

I tried wiping that layer off with a damp paper towel, but almost nothing came off…the grey turned somewhat greener while damp though (but nothing as bold as what you can see in the bottle opener made from one of these pieces).

I sliced off the tip of one of the grey antlers, drilled a 7mm hole in the cut end, shaped it against a sanding belt, and wiped on boiled linseed oil.

Normally, the antler that's exposed by sanding is very white. The BLO yellows it up slightly so it blends with the unsanded portions (well, at least on all prior antler pieces I've worked).

This time, the unsanded part turned dark green when the oil hit it! The transformation was pretty dramatic and, despite the hint of color when I dampened it during cleaning, that much color change was quite unexpected.

Fortunately, it still looks pretty cool to me and to the person it's going to…but it still weirded me out quite a bit.

I've also included a photo of the cross section of the piece that became the bottle opener in the first picture…you can see that the discoloration runs pretty deep, it's not really practical to sand through it all on the entire antler. I'd lost far too much detail and would be left with fairly skinny pieces.

Anybody else ever see this happen?

 

[Ambidex]

Almost looks like some kind of mossy fungus. I wouldn't think it would go that deep into the antler though. I've never used blo, just a couple coats of ca to seal. In other words I have no idea:redface: but am very interested to hear from anyone who would know because I work with a LOT of whitetail antler and have never seen this reaction. But then again I think it looks pretty cool too!

 

[TimS124]

I suspect the little bit of texture might (and this is a long shot) have been the last bit of velvet on the original antler.

Some states open hunting season before every bit of velvet has vanished. I do NOT know if that happened here though I'll try to find out eventually.

I've seen regulations online for other states (this deer was not from my state) that require reporting promptly if a buck that was harvested was still in velvet. I would guess that info is used to reality-check whether next year's season needs to start a bit later…

If this was velvet, that might explain the deep discoloration. Certainly, the vast majority of antler most of us work with either came from sheds or from post-velvet bucks. That's part of why I'm guessing this unusual reaction involved the last vestiges of velvet.

I would've expected that if this was velvet, it would've been thicker or more noticeable vs. this was a VERY thin surface texture that truly felt like a buildup of dust/grime from sitting too long.

It's quite possible it's just a moss or fungal attack. Fortunately, I made sure to wear a face shield that includes filtered air and had dust collection going on the sander.

I like BLO on antler because the freshly worked areas are normally very white vs. the unworked areas are normally an off-white. I find the BLO tints the freshly exposed areas fairly close in color to the unworked areas. It makes it all blend much better…

I have a photo on my hard drive that shows a freshly sanded (but not-yet-oiled) piece of antler next to a finished piece. The difference in before and after oiling is pretty noticeable.

The BLO isn't a perfect match but it's close enough and trivial to add. I wipe it on usually with either a small piece of a blue paper towel (the shop towels type) or with my finger (while wearing nitrile gloves). I rub it in, wipe off the excess, then start building the CA finish.

I expected the oil to interfere with the CA finish but quickly discovered that the CA didn't seem to care about the oil…I've even had it glue layers of the shop towel together right through the oily patch that was used to apply the BLO a few minutes earlier.

 

[ohiococonut]

The discoloration is not from velvet. From the picture it's obvious it's a shed that has been laying on the ground for a while. Notice the small protrusion past the nobs on the base? That's an indication it's a shed. Antlers don't fall off of a dead deers skull and it hasn't been cut off. The brown color on antler comes from the tannin in tree bark from bucks rubbing to get the dead itchy velvet off.
The mossy fungus is also an indication that it's been laying on the ground or laying someplace where it can get moisture.
I'm surprised it doesn't have any teeth marks from mice trying to eat it. Small rodents will feed on sheds during the winter months to get calcium for their diet.
In early spring I'll find sheds that usually have teeth marks on them or old sheds that have the same coloration as the one you posted.
If it concerns you, you can soak it in bleachy water for a couple of days, then clean water for a couple more then set it out to dry.
I'm not sure what the oil will do to the color over time since I've never done anything with the discolored sheds I've found.

 

[monark88]

As I've mentioned before, deer antler is very porous. Try a felt tip pen on a section. It will penetrate almost completely thru the piece. I learned the hard way by marking off a lenght and found it went all the way thru.

Could be handy if you wanted to color your antler a particular color. Any way i like the effect you got.

Russ

 

[TimS124]

ohiococonut,

Thanks for the info! Glad to hear it wasn't from velvet.

I believe the one in the background of that photo was not a shed antler. I've attached a photo of its base from another angle showing the cut line. If it was shed, shouldn't it have separated right below the knobby "ring" at the base?

I've also attached a closeup of that antler's base and its mate…I received four pairs of antlers. How common is it to find both antlers as sheds? I would expect they don't necessarily fall off at the same time/place (though no doubt it can happen). I'm still reasonably sure these weren't sheds but will confirm with the source next time I see them.

This batch of antlers were stored in a barn (literally) if I correctly recall the story from the person who sent them to me (the story was relayed well ahead of the antlers being sent).

Given the natural humidity in the area they were stored (deep South), pretty much anything could've grown on (or in) them.

I was also surprised they weren't chewed on by critters. I'll have to ask what they were stored in that kept them from being eaten.

I like the color change but will keep the bleach suggestion in mind for future reference.

Thank you.

(edited to point out that the first image in this post clearly has a white-balance issue which makes it much greener than it should be…some days, phone photos really don't work very well. The background for both images is the same section of countertop under the same lighting, taken moments apart so they shouldn't look so dissimilar.)

 

[TimS124]

Russ,

Great tip! Thank you. I'm not sure if felt tips would give me the color(s) I might want for other projects, but knowing antler is fairly easy to dye could lead to some interesting experiments.

I have some other antler on hand that doesn't have this staining so I wouldn't have to first correct/remove the green tint to experiment...

 

[JohnU]

That's one thing about working with antler, you never know what to going to be inside. I had some older antler look green like that also. I don't know if its a mold or just ages that way but it was different. I'm guessing the oil just enhanced what was already there. Still a nice look, just different.

 

[ohiococonut]

Tim,
Generally there is a small amount of protrusion below the nobby base and your first photo showed an excessive amount which is why I was hesitant to post what I did. In the last photo you posted it clearly shows they were just cut from an old weathered skull. Most likely the skull was stuck up on a beam in the barn. Farmers around here will do that and also stick them up over their garage doors. Yes, we're rednecks :biggrin:

It's rare to find both sheds without a tremendous amount of searching unless you're lucky, and I never have been. Deer will sometimes kick them off because they itch but most times they just fall off while they're walking through the woods and across fields. There's no pattern to follow in this area where I live to finding them, deer are everywhere.
In the coming months I expect to see bucks running around with just one antler and I'll be off searching again before the mice get to them.

 

[Jgrden]

Nope, but I am going to try it. Thank you for exposing.

 

[KenV]

Potassium Permanganate (get it at the drug store) can be used to "brown" the outside of the antler. It will stain your hands brown so use gloves. It is an oxidizer and can be used in solution to treat foot fungi infestations. It leaves a nice permanent brown.