Cutting Antler Blanks

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Gary Max

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We where yacking about the best way to cut antler.
For my money the very best piece is as close to the tip as you can get.
I used a casing to show where I would saw at.
 

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I agree. I have a ton of elk antler, but most of it is "unusable" because it is so thick and the turning just isn't that pretty when you get to all of the porous middle junk. I like the outer layers much better and you only get these on elk when you cut near the tip. I have made others with thicker parts of the elk antler, but I have to use a lot of CA, and even then I have had more than a couple make me thankful for my face shield!!!!

My $0.02,
StatProf
 
I have some elk that I am going to try and cast----see if that will fill some of the voids.
The best that I have ever worked with is Sambar-----the piece in the pic is Axis which is still very good stuff.
 
I try to get the smallest diameter I can too. I have had alot of success selling some with some of the bark still on them, ususally a small part where there was a bend or fork in the antler. You also get more pens out of them if you plan the larger pens from the larger parts of the antler.
 
StatProf, you might want to try and turn some chain pulls out of the thicker stuff. I turn mostly whitetail anter and use the larger for pulls. Theyve sold quite well.
 
What I have is some Whitetail antler my cousin gave me . It has some age on it . Do you soak the blanks in something to make them whiter ? How about stabilizing them ? Is this necessary ?

Thanks for posting the pic Gary !
 
Chuck, Hydrogen Peroxide works very well, Just don't leave it in too long, I did a piece that had some red in it and left it in about 3 hours, it bleached it so white, it looked like old bone.
 
Chuck I use them just the way they are. To finish I just do them like you would a good PR (run through MM) and to finish it off a buff with a good polish----really leaves on heck of a shine.
The less marrow you get into the easier it will be to deal with.
 
I use a CA finish on mine and I like the results. I have been turning tons of antler lately as I found someone who wants as many as I can make (don't know what that means) so far he has taken 10 and wants more. This is a hobby for me so 10 pens is a weeks work in the shop.... Also the guys at work all want Antler I prefer the wood but but what ever the customer wants :)
 
You guys are talking about thick deer antler, try working with moose. After I carve it to size I fill with CA then sand normally and CA finish. I much prefer stinky wood to stinky antler :)
 
dalecamino said:
What I have is some Whitetail antler my cousin gave me . It has some age on it . Do you soak the blanks in something to make them whiter ? How about stabilizing them ? Is this necessary ?

Thanks for posting the pic Gary !
Click to expand...


I had a customer that wanted "white" antler so I turned them "almost" to size and drilled them. Then I soaked them in hydrogen peroxide for three days, changing the solution every day. It worked!!:wink:
 
We sat up at a car show a few years ago------Meguires was the brand of polish that I saw several folks using on thier high dollor paint jobs. I figured if it was good enough for their cars it should work on pens.
 
dalecamino said:
What I have is some Whitetail antler my cousin gave me . It has some age on it . Do you soak the blanks in something to make them whiter ? How about stabilizing them ? Is this necessary ?

Thanks for posting the pic Gary !
Click to expand...

Stabilizing not necessary. For many/most folks the attractiveness of antler is it's individuality after turning. If you want whiter, go ahead and bleach. Your choice.
 
I use the tips as you recommend, but there are only a limited number of tips. I also use the pithy parts and as much as possible I drill it off center so that one side is still white and hard. As I turn them down I stop when the pith gets exposed and give it a good dose of thin CA and accelerator. The first coat of CA sinks in most of the way but I add another coat or two before getting down to final diameter.

The mixture of part white and part pith sells best for me, better than pure white. The pith turns yellow, gray, blackish, slightly green and occasionally there is some red. All that just adds character. I've seen the white antler pens go through 4-5 shows while the exposed pith pens sell out 2-3 times over.
 
Gary did qualify what he likes with his opening post.
For some folks, the more bone showing, looking ivory-like, the better. Others think having some bark left on is a more natural effect. And, even others might like some porous (marrow center) areas showing. I think, with whitetail antler, what you get is what you git. I'll agree, elk is often too large, all porous stuff is not desirable.
 
Rifleman1776 said:
Gary did qualify what he likes with his opening post.
For some folks, the more bone showing, looking ivory-like, the better. Others think having some bark left on is a more natural effect. And, even others might like some porous (marrow center) areas showing. I think, with whitetail antler, what you get is what you git. I'll agree, elk is often too large, all porous stuff is not desirable.
Click to expand...

At the risk of being the odd man out, I love the looks of the porous elk pieces. They ARE a pain to fill with CA, but the end result, to me, is beautiful.
 

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Gary Max said:
We where yacking about the best way to cut antler.
For my money the very best piece is as close to the tip as you can get.
I used a casing to show where I would saw at.
Click to expand...

I use all parts of the antler.. bigger pens, bigger antler parts, smaller pens, smaller antler parts...

I haven't done much white tail, the antlers I have here that I was told was WT are very curved and relatively small so they will be harder to work with.
I'm out of all the antler I brought up from Texas that I got from my friend that runs a game farm... it was mostly axis and sambar.(sp?). When I got into any of the marrow, I just used the CA... People seem to like antler in most any form.
If it's all bone and no marrow I didn't usually put any finish on it... wet sand up through the 12000 and leave it natural.
 
dalecamino said:
What I have is some Whitetail antler my cousin gave me . It has some age on it . Do you soak the blanks in something to make them whiter ? How about stabilizing them ? Is this necessary ?

Thanks for posting the pic Gary !
Click to expand...

I don't like bleaching. Some of the elk actually has some purple in the antler when you get closer to the center. The bleach makes you lose this purple.

StatProf
 
Gary, I have tried casting most every type of antler and can tell you that it was a waste of resin for me. It just didn't penetrate enough to make a difference.
 
ozmandus said:
I haven't done much white tail, the antlers I have here that I was told was WT are very curved and relatively small so they will be harder to work with.
Click to expand...
The curved parts make the best pens, theyre just harder to drill. Start with a small bit and work your way up to the desired hole. I find the curved antler leave the best natural surface, or bark as some call it.

I like the elk marrow because it is different and character makes pens unique and one of a kind.
 
Just a big thank you to all you guys for sharing info which will help me along in this new (to me) area of turning . Hope I can put it to good use . :eek:
 
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