deer antler

[Chasper]

I've often been furstrated in my efforts to leave some of the outside bark on my deer antler pens. But now, thanks to my new PH pen blank vise it is a lot easier.
I turned one this morning and while the bark is there, the whole effect of the pen is a little too slick, even where the bark is visible. I was imagining that I would be able to make a rustic, high-charactera pen with visible bark areas. After sanding and finishing with CA the bark tends to look more like a defect.
Does anybody have a method of leaving the bark more natural? Sanded, sealed, and highly polished bark areas are a little too sanatized. I'd like the turned surfaces to be slick and polished, but the bark area should be untouched.

 

[rherrell]

Cut your MM into 1" strips and cradle the blank with it when you sand. The MM won't hit the lowspots. Antler polishes up real nice with nothing on it.

 

[Ozzy]

Finish the parts you want finished by hand and that way the bark should remain untouched. I have done some hand finishing on tips and they turned out fine.

 

[jskeen]

If you want to darken the areas you don't sand to make them contrast more with the white sanded areas, you can dye antler with a solution of potassium permangenate. You can get it at sears, or at plumbing supply places that sell and service water softners. It's used as a backflush solution on salt filters. Mix a couple of tablespoons in a jar of water and soak the unturned antler for anywhere from a half hour to overnight. The exposed areas turn a rich dark brown, and when you turn and sand the interior is white.

 

[TellicoTurning]

James,
I didn't know about the Potassium Permangenate... I like that idea though... I like to leave the bark on my pens and have just depeneded on the sanding to leave the low spots... it helps if you have antler that has a number of "ridges" running vertical on the tines... but can't always depend on that..

On some of my pens, to leave the bark, I try to drill so that I have an inside curve on one side of the blank.. you need a larger blank for this and when you sand, you'll generally not sand over the bark in the curve... sanding as per Rick's suggestion.