Trio of Antler Bottle Openers

[TimS124]

Last year, a buddy's brother gave me some very large antlers to work with. As a "thank you" present, I made him and his hunting buddy each a .30Cal Express pen (posted previously in their own thread here on IAP).

In talking with my buddy about what else could be made with antler, one of them asked if I could make three antler bottle openers…. Piece of cake! :biggrin:

These were shaped last week but I didn't get a chance to finish assembling them until tonight.

They're drilled and a transfer punch is used as a pivot as I shaped the ends against a 1" benchtop belt sander. I had a vacuum attached to help minimize dust and wore a forced air filtering mask/faceshield combo because breathing that dust would not be a good plan.

They're finished with boiled linseed oil, then given several coats of thin CA, and topped off with a couple coats of medium CA. All of those are wiped on by hand (a hand protected by a heavy nitrile glove), given a quick rub down with 400 grit Abranet, then rubbed out with the satin polish from a StickFast finishing kit.

No doubt a powered buffer would produce a lot more shine, but I don't want a super slick shine…this method produces pretty much what I want with fairly reasonable effort.

The trio will be handed over late next week (if I remember to bring them with me when I meet with those buddies).

 

[Edward Cypher]

Nicely done!

 

[Fishinbo]

Classy and cool bottle openers! The antler is really pretty with nice shape and colors which goes well with the kit, perfect gifts for hunting buddies. Great job!

 

[TimS124]

Thanks for the kind words.

The tips used for these openers came from a large antler. This antler is much lower density than the ones I usually work with. I love the sheer size of these, but they feel almost like styrofoam compared to the density of the usual stuff.

These are quick to shape either with the sanding belt or on the lathe. I'm guessing that the sheer size of these antlers would be a problem for the buck that grew them if they weren't such a light material. :big grin:

I have a couple sets of this type of antler and have a hefty list of ideas to try as time permits. Fortunately, I also have a few sets of the usual, smaller, denser ones as well.

Getting my first set was difficult, but once that happened and I was able to create some examples of what could be done, it was much easier to convince others to send me antlers as well. Swapping antlers for a couple pens, openers, etc works out to a good trade for both sides in my opinion.

 

[southernclay]

Nice work, very cool! Thanks for detailing technique as well.

 

[Ligget]

Great idea, I bet that a few other penmakers will make similar ones now, myself included!

 

[TimS124]

I've done a tiny bit of experimenting with dyeing the antler but haven't liked any of the results yet. If I find a color I like, I may try one of these in a really strange color! :biggrin: