Finishing Antler

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texasfootball21

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Oct 18, 2008
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San Antonio, TX, USA
I need some advice on how to get a high gloss finish on antler. After doing some reading, here's my plan:

1)Get the pen to the correct profile filling the pen in with thin CA glue as I go, then sand to about 600 grit.
2)Coat the pen in thick CA glue (never used a glue finish before).
3)Scrape off all the excess glue.
4)Sand from 150 grit to 12000 grit.
5)Use spray lacquer(never done this before).
6)Use Renaissance wax on finished pen, metal and antler (never done this before).

On step 4, do you wet or dry sand? And with the lathe on or off(lathe speed?)?

Will this achieve a polished marble-like finish? If you couldn't tell by all the "(never done this before)" I don't know what I'm doing. I know I need to experiment but I do need to know what I should order to finish the pens. Any advice would help and is welcomed.

Thanks.
 
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Keep steps 1 and 6 and forget everything in between. Instead, after step 1 grab your Micro Mesh and since you've already sanded to 600, start with the 2400 MM and go through ALL the grits without skipping any. Try to spend an equal amount of time on each grit until you reach 12,000, about 30 seconds at 1000 rpm's works FOR ME. Ideally the amount of time you spend on each grit is not as important as removing the scratch pattern from the previous grit but it's kinda hard(for me!) to see scratches on antler so keeping track of time in your head is the next best thing.
You CAN put a finish on antler but if you have any bark at all left then the finish will just fill the voids and, IMO take away from the beauty.
Why make life harder than it already is? Try this once and see if you like it. I get a super high gloss shine doing it this way. If it's still not shiney enough for you then you can add a finish but STILL GO THROUGH ALL THE STEPS ABOVE FIRST.
I would recommend that you practice your CA finish on some scrap wood before you ruin some perfectly good antler.:wink:
 
just did my first antlers and finished them exactly as Rick suggested and they are beautiful! I wanted to keep them as natural as possible and this method worked!
 
rherrell said:
Keep steps 1 and 6 and forget everything in between. Instead, after step 1 grab your Micro Mesh and since you've already sanded to 600, start with the 2400 MM and go through ALL the grits without skipping any. Try to spend an equal amount of time on each grit until you reach 12,000, about 30 seconds at 1000 rpm's works FOR ME. Ideally the amount of time you spend on each grit is not as important as removing the scratch pattern from the previous grit but it's kinda hard(for me!) to see scratches on antler so keeping track of time in your head is the next best thing.
You CAN put a finish on antler but if you have any bark at all left then the finish will just fill the voids and, IMO take away from the beauty.
Why make life harder than it already is? Try this once and see if you like it. I get a super high gloss shine doing it this way. If it's still not shiney enough for you then you can add a finish but STILL GO THROUGH ALL THE STEPS ABOVE FIRST.
I would recommend that you practice your CA finish on some scrap wood before you ruin some perfectly good antler.:wink:
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm going to give this a shot.

When you apply the wax, how do you do it exactly? Do you just wipe some wax on every part of the pen, then rub it in with a rag? What about the part under the clip, do you have to do it before you assemble the pen?

When you add thin CA glue as you turn, do you just stop the lathe, flood the marrow, and let it dry? How often do you have to do this?

Thanks, any other advice is very welcomed.
 
Joe,
If you have solid antler, no marrow, just a high polish with 12000 grit will do the trick... I also have some abrasive I got at Michaels, it's plastic backed, in 5 x 6 sheets, don't know the grit, but it's very very fine and will bring up a shine on both wood and antler... it's in the wood working dept., in a clear package with a black cardboard top... usually, that's all I use on my antler's -- unless there's marrow, then you need to do a little CA to smooth that out.
 
Joseph, the Ren wax goes on sparingly & dries very quick. Put on a thin coat-lathe on or off- & give it at least 30 sec. Then buff. I generally put one coat on before removing the blank from the lathe, then another after assembly. Buff vigorously with a soft cloth or buffer. It can also be put on the metal parts of the pen to keep finger prints off. You can sand with the lathe on at a medium speed, wet or dry. Stop the lathe between grits and sand lengthwise. As far as CA finish, about 800 rpm, one quick pass over the blank. I use a plastic bag from the kit to apply [even the little bags work]. As stated above...practice on some junk wood first.
 
texasfootball21 said:
Thanks, I'm going to give this a shot.

When you apply the wax, how do you do it exactly? Do you just wipe some wax on every part of the pen, then rub it in with a rag? What about the part under the clip, do you have to do it before you assemble the pen?

When you add thin CA glue as you turn, do you just stop the lathe, flood the marrow, and let it dry? How often do you have to do this?

Thanks, any other advice is very welcomed.
Click to expand...
I apply Ren wax after assembly. I dip my finger in the can, rub it on the pen and wipe it off immediately. I don't worry about under the clip, I think it gets it's fair share.
I put thin CA on the marrow with the lathe off. Flood it until it runs off and let it dry. Once is USUALLY enough.:wink:
 
My technique

My technique is similar to Chuck's above....on whitetail antler, I sand to 12,000 with MM. Usually, I am satisfied with this unless there is softer marrow...then, I use thin CA, 2 to 3 coats, each coat sprayed with accelerator. Sand to 12, 000 again, being careful not to sand through all coats of CA......EASY !!!! Makes a great durable shine....Allan
 
Hi, i never sand bare Antler, I use a sharp skew to get it as smooth as possible, then C/A with about 8 coats, then sanding it smooth when needed. Last steps i wet sand the C/A to 12000. This method reduces the amount of dirty sanding dust into the pores of the bare Antler. That is just my method.
 
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texasfootball21 said:
Thanks.
Okay, when you sand, do you do it with lathe on or off? And at what speed. Do you sand dry or wet after the CA?
Thanks again.
Click to expand...

I sand at the slowest speeds my lathe will go, about 500 rpm. I sand wet with MM to 12000.
I sand with the lathe running and then length wise when off. The reason you go slow is to avoid heat build up. Heat can cause cracking and compromise your blank bonding to your pen tube. Sanding causes a lot of unnecessary heat. Good Luck
 
Sanding

I sand with the lathe running, medium speed. Then, stop the lathe and sand horizontally to remove scratch marks. I never wet sand, always dry. Some of our members wet sand ( messy) but I find that if I dry sand, light pressure, works fine.
 
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