Repair/hiding a crack in antler

[Monty]

Had a customer contact me about repairing an antler pen that was purchased at one of my shows last year. It's an antler pen that developed a rather large crack.
I 'm thinking about just replacing the cracked portion, but before I do I thought I ask if anyone has had success by filling a crack like this with antler dust or something similar.

 

[SteveG]

I have tried to fix a crack in antler before, and never with acceptable results. This was a crack I discovered prior to it being sold. In your case, the customer KNOWS there is/was a crack, so that crack (and any repair) will get extra attention attention. Unless the fix is undetectable, it is not good enough. I say replace.

 

[farmer]

antler

Had a customer contact me about repairing an antler pen that was purchased at one of my shows last year. It's an antler pen that developed a rather large crack.
I 'm thinking about just replacing the cracked portion, but before I do I thought I ask if anyone has had success by filling a crack like this with antler dust or something similar.
View attachment 159623

Hi I have done allot of antler work on pool cues and billiard products.

To me it looks like the antler was to big and you were working with more marrow then the prime part of the antler .

In other words you needed a smaller piece to start off with.

I could be wrong, but the antler looks dark and porous to me ..
I dip or coat the inside of all my antler work with wood hardener .
I always size the antler slightly loose to the pen tube ,, in my case its either a wooden dowel or some kind of tubing .

I know nothing that will repair a crack and not be super noticeable .

PS for some reason African deer antler is more dense then the antler I have gotten here in the north west ...

 

[Monty]

To me it looks like the antler was to big and you were working with more marrow then the prime part of the antler .

In other words you needed a smaller piece to start off with.

I could be wrong, but the antler looks dark and porous to me ..
I dip or coat the inside of all my antler work with wood hardener .
I always size the antler slightly loose to the pen tube ,, in my case its either a wooden dowel or some kind of tubing .

I know nothing that will repair a crack and not be super noticeable .

PS for some reason African deer antler is more dense then the antler I have gotten here in the north west ...

This piece ended up more in the marrow but I always drill he hole for the tube so its slightly loose.

 

[Akula]

IMO, I would just replace the tube with a new piece. I would keep that antler section, cut off the CA, use a dremil to clean up the crack and fill with turquoise dust (or if you widen it up some you could put in small pieces with the dust) and reapply the finish after polishing.

 

[beck3906]

The piece you use for replacement will be subject to cracking in the future. Antler being natural material will again dry out and crack, especially if left in the heat.

First, Offer to repair with crushed turquoise for an accent

 

[Lenny]

Most of the antler I use is from Maine moose and often very porous (lots of marrow). Consequently I have started stabilizing mine with Cactus Juice.

 

[keithlong]

I would replace it, I have turned a lot of deer antler, had a few to crack also, I try to make sure that the antler is dry and also try to choose pieces that are not much bigger that the tubes, that way when you drill out the holes, you drill out most of the marrow.

 

[Herb G]

I would fill it with copper dust & CA mixed together. It would help stabilize it, and give it some character as well.

But, that's just me.