# turning Antler



## WoodWizard (Apr 11, 2009)

is there a secret to keeping some of the natural look when you turn deer antler? I turned some the other day, and it just looks like whitle arcylic. Would like to keep some of the natural roughness of it. Olny way I can think of is turning the ends down to the bushings, and leaving the middle natural.

Any other way, please give me your opinions or have pictures of some you have done please share


Thanks much


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## MarkHix (Apr 11, 2009)

Use the smallest diameter part of the antler that you can.  Some of my best sellers have some of the bark still on them.


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## WoodWizard (Apr 11, 2009)

MarkHix said:


> Use the smallest diameter part of the antler that you can. Some of my best sellers have some of the bark still on them.


 Do you think by not turning the middle section at all would look okay?


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## mick (Apr 11, 2009)

drill  them off center enough that you'll keep some of the "bark' on one side


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## mostangrypirate (Apr 11, 2009)

you can drill closer to one side to get a hint of bark. the thicker pieces of antler will have more marrow, which I think is what yer lookin for. if you try to work with more marrow, have the thin CA ready. it helps to re-enforce while you turn and use a good CA finish.


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## WoodWizard (Apr 11, 2009)

mick said:


> drill them off center enough that you'll keep some of the "bark' on one side


 Only problem with that is...They are so hard to drill as is anyway. The one I did...I wasent sure if it was big enough to drill...but did manage..but there was no room for error


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## MarkHix (Apr 11, 2009)

Try mounting them on the lathe first and turning them a little first to make them easier to drill.  I find it easier to drill on the lathe instead of the DP.  You can adjust the blank  between centers to get the best alignment.  With the lathe spinning, you can ignore the ghost image to see what will be left.


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## Don_Hart (Apr 13, 2009)

When I am trying to get some of the original left on the pen after turning I will drill a piece across a curve in the antler. That way you do not have to leave the center unturned and you can still get the shape you want.

Here is an example in a slimline







The lower blank was drilled across a curve in the antler leaving a piece of the "bark" showing when the pen is turned down to a standard profile.

You can also get a nice look by using a larger diameter and turning down closer to the marrow and filling with CA glue giving a nice graining pattern like this:


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## Russianwolf (Apr 13, 2009)

did one last night with a piece of Axis Antler. Turner on barrel like always but the cap barrel I turned very fat so that it left a bit of bark. It looks pretty good and with the Axis, there was no marrow to speak of. I'll be takign pics tonight

quick shot of the pen.


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## stoneman (Apr 21, 2009)

Keith,


From what I've seen, antler color varies a lot. It may even be somewhat at random. I turned fifteen whitetail Sierras last year using one complete set of antlers and a third single antler. The first photo here shows the variety I encountered. Sometimes the outer sheath has a dark appearance, sometimes not. Some marrow is also darker. It is worth some trial and error as (IMHO) there is no bad antler. If trying for bark, it may help to look at a post from jrc regarding drilling antler. It definitely provides an increased level of control.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42550&highlight=drilling+antler

Finally, the marrow from an elk antler (second photo) can be really dark (though very porous and requiring lots of CA to fill). In my experience with antler, elk contains some of the darkest marrow going.


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## jaeger (Apr 26, 2009)

I like to drill out the antler with the lathe over the DP. 

http://www.penturners.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=9868&stc=1&d=1240734850


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## JohnU (May 5, 2009)

Not all antler will provide you will the natural surface you want.  It needs to be thin enough so you dont have to turn it all down, and you need antler with a nice deep texture.  I like to use younger deer antler and usually the bur, or area closest to the head, is what you want.  I usually try to mix them up with a low piece and a higher tine piece so you get a couple pens with upper barrel texture from one rack.  As others have said, you can also drill off center if you dont have a piece with lots of marrow, and drilling on the curve works well too, if you can do it without blowing out the side.  Its mostly hit and miss but there are some tips to help you get closer to what you want.  Good Luck!


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## RustyNail (May 5, 2009)

Well I have not done a ton of antler work but I have found that the closer to the nub the better the color gets?


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## Chasper (May 5, 2009)

I pick out pieces of antler with a curve in them so I can drill them like this.  I usually go for exposed bark in the middle of the tube section, if the bark is exposed on the ends it doesn't match up very well with the nib, cap and center band.


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## Bellsy (May 5, 2009)

The easiest way I have found to drill antler is to create flats (sand on a belt sander) on the antler to hold it. Then you can start drilling with relative ease. The down side to drilling antler is drift. Drift is the drill bit wanting to deviate off of center while drilling. This can happen with antler due to the hard outer antler and soft inner marrow of the antler. To over come drift I start with an under size bit and progress up to the larger finished diameter. I have found that turning exposed marrow can produce a desirable appearance and most people do not know the difference when it's finished properly.

I have turned many pieces of antler by drilling off of center you end up with marrow no matter what you do. There are different species/ages of deer and the antlers fall off at different times during the fall season. Antler grows very fast and if the deers antler is harvested before it matures, the marrow will be heavier in concentration over the hard outer layer desired. I have found antler to be at it's best after it has matured and fallen off on it's own.....obviously!!!

As a note, the deers antler falls off like the seasons change because of the interaction between the sun, moon and the earth. A hormone (in the deer) stops being produced in the fall and this causes the antler to "die" and stop growing further. Eventually the antler will fall off on its own and not start growing again until the following year in the spring/summer.

Bellsy


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## rherrell (May 6, 2009)

http://sarkon.net/poppopshop/

Click on "Antler Tutorial", I've used this method for a long time with great success.


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## Chasper (May 6, 2009)

If you haven't tried this method for drilling antler (and anything else, especially if you want to drill off center) you may be suprised how reliable, quick and easy this is.  I've been drilling almost everything this way lately.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAEEaF8z2jM


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