Best way to use antlers

[eppen]

Hello there
A friend gave me two full antlers and I want to use them for pens.
What is the best technique to break them down into usable blanks. And are there any do's or dont's for turning and finishing

thanks in advance

Anthony

 

[Dusty]

I don't know how true it is , but I have heard that you can boil the bent parts and straighten them to an extent.
FWIW.

 

[gimpy]

Send them to me, I'll take care of them

 

[wolf creek knives]

Except for the one on the right you mount them above your shop door and tell everyone it was the largest Buck you ever got. I'm serious, nice rack!

 

[PBorowick]

Anthony,
I've been looking into this also, my brother unloaded a bunch of whitetail and mule deer antlers on me.

This is in the IAP Library:

Antler on - Pens Using deer antler to make pens

A tutorial on the end-to-end process of making pens from deer antler, from selecting suitable antler pieces to finishing, by Philip Duffy @philipff Click on the image below to begin download of PDF. Author: Philip F. Duffy

www.penturners.org

There are also a few good videos out there also. I will try to find them and link them.

Found one of them:

 

[ed4copies]

Choose the pens you want to make, take the brass tubes and lay them across the antler to see where you need to cut.
Pens are straight, antlers not so much!!

Chasper showed a great method of prepping the antler--mount in your lathe, between centers and rotate until you find the best spots to start
turning the antler round. Maximize your diameter. Then hold in a chuck and drill on the lathe. You can tell as it rotates between centers whether you will be able (if you want it) to show some of the bark in your finished pen.

Good luck--
Ed

 

[bsshog40]

Ed has some good advice. Antler is hard to get nice even pieces with. The best spots I see right now are at the skull. Looks like you could get a couple 2" - 2 1/2" pieces out of each set just at the skulls. Looks like maybe some towards the end of the antlers but I'm betting they are curving and probably getting pretty skinny by that point.

 

[keithbyrd]

Please use a respirator when cutting, turning sanding antler- the dust is murder on your lungs

 

[bsshog40]

The smell is too! Lol

 

[Sataro]

Depending on the thickness you may be surprised by the number of blanks that you cut that antler into.

 

[hbillings]

I find the marrow to be interesting as well, but it needs lots of filling with CA. If you do get some exposed marrow, it helps to reverse the blank between coats of med CA to get those gaps filled.

 

[TonyL]

I saw this guy do it years ago. I never tried it though.

 

[philipff]

Start by reading my article in the Library. P.

 

[Swagopenturner]

I usually make sure the antlers dry for about a year before I even consider turning. Definitely use a respirator!