Working with antlers

[Toejammer]

My wife snagged a deer shed up on her dad's ranch this summer. it's pretty bleached out, but seems solid. i cut a section off the top, to check how it looks inside. My question is this - is a 1/4 inch outer shell deep enough for knife scales ? I don't want to pin them, then wind up sanding down to the marrow. (if thats the proper term) Also, is there any treatment I need to do before using them ?

[ea42]

They don't need to be traeted at all. Just cut a section a bit longer than what you need, then cut that in half. Flat sand the cut side down until your cover is a tiny bit thicker than your bolster (watch the width as well), this way you'll have sanded away most of the marrow. You may wind up with a bit showing if you're handling a barehead knife, but otherwise most of what's left will be hidden by the bolsters.

Eric

[Toejammer]

Thanks Ea42 !

I was hoping all I'd have to do is grind the backside, if I measure just above the bolster, I shouldn't sand / polish down to the marrow from the top.

Is the marrow off a deer antler worth trying to use for 2nd cut work ?

[coffeecup]

Naw, the core part is too punky.

If those sheds spent a year up in the Sandhills, they might be too weathered to work without doing some stabilization or reinforcement. You'll be able to tell, a piece of scrap will be brittle.

[Toejammer]

They may well have been up there for years, we were digging through a "blowout" when my wife spotted em. They're bleached as white as snow, but don't seem to be brittle. Of course, I might have to reconsider taking a torch to them to get any color.

I was kinda thinkin the same thing about the 2nd cut, the core of these seem to be pretty porous looking.

[coffeecup]

When you cut it up, cut a toothpick-sized strip to test. Try to flex it a bit. If it snaps, the stuff may require extra care. If you can flex it just a tad, it will probably be OK.

I never had any luck torching color into antler, but various dyes work fairly well (unless the stuff is porous all over, then it dyes like bone). You might try a drop of potassium permanganate or leather dye on some scrap to see how it is absorbed.

[orvet]

I have used brown & light brown leather dye very successfully on bleached out antler.
If it has become porous you may want to dye it then send it out to be stabilized.
Then there should be no problem with it.

[Toejammer]

Thnx guys, I like the leather dye idea ! I wasn't looking forward to toasting that bone...... smells bad enough just sanding it.