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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need. |
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#1
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White Tail Deer Antler
Hi Folks,
I noticed some recent questions that all seem to have questions about stabilizing antler or bone. I have found three methods using the search and I was wondering what is the "best" way to handle deer antler. 1) Cover antler in a pan with sand and heat to pretty good temp, and then drop in pot of stone sealer. (keep in mind without the sand). Supposedly this will suck up the sealer and bingo, done. 2) Super glue on the outside of the antler, get the thinner super glue and coat the outside, soaks in and all done. I have read some posts about drawing a vacuum but not to clear how you pull that off while using fast drying glue. 3) mixwax wood hardener. Dunk and be done, now this you could pull a vacuum on. I have seen the wood technique where you create a double boiler style system to safely heat the wood hardener up while soaking the wood, seal and let cool, again, supposed to suck it up. Now I have tried this several times with scales and every time the container explodes on me showering the minwax everywhere. Little tired of that. Now, I plan on using an antler rack that is over 1 year old, it was a shed. And I plan on putting Fbings leather dye, oil based, first and letting that dry completely before trying to seal it. I have another rack that was taken from a deer last year as well, but it was still fresh a couple of months ago, so I will let it dry more before trying to use it. Any way to speed up the drying? Any thoughts to which works the best. Thanks, Todd |
#2
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Todd, I have Done #3 many times for antler. When you say that it shatters it makes me wonder a couple things. First off here's how I did it. Take a large Coffee can and puncture a hole on the side near the bottom that will be used for a drain.....plug it with a screw. Take a mason jar that is smaller than the Coffee can and place it in the can. Put your antler in the jar and cover with the minwax. Make sure that its not completely full because the Minwax will bubble like crazy an overflow into the Coffee can, not too much of a problem if it does but try to avoid. Now put the lid on the mason jar but NOT TIGHT just cover (im wondering if this is how you did it but put the lid on tight). Now fill the coffee can full of boiling water and the minwax will start to bubble thus taking the air out of the antler. After about five to ten min drain the water and refill with boiling water. Do this probably 3 times. Should take around 30 min to complete. At that point it probably will be done bubbleing. Drain the water and tighen the lid on the jar. The lid will suck in and the vacuum will take effect. I usually leave for several days to a week in the jar. I have had great success with this on Antler.
Anyway, hope this is any help to ya. Good luck ! Shane |
#3
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Hi Shane,
Thanks, I tried it almost exactly that way the first time I did it with wood scales, problem was, as I filled the boiler with water, the jug started to float and tipped over and spilled the contents in the water, pail was to large. Next time, smaller pail for the h20 and then while it was bubbling like crazy it overflowed into the water and the scales weren't saturated well. Last time, screwed the lid on tightly too early, it kept going and blew the lid off, luckily I was wearing full face protection. That being said, I will try again, this time with more minwax and less water, so the jug won't float, still thinking of ways to submerge the wood scales so they get good and soaked in the stuff. Less water should mean that it takes longer but it will work out better in the long run. I didn't know that it would work on antler too, thanks. Todd btw, your work has really improved tremendously over the last year or so, I am really impressed with how far you have come. I got the griz grinder after the last round of discussions you had with how much you liked yours. And man, that makes all the difference in the world. My hollows still need work, but compared to what I was doing on the delta 1" there is no contest. |
#4
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Something I did with the problem of holding scales and antler down was to tak a piece of steel grind it to a round shape that will fit inside the jar and sit on top of the scales. Make sure there is around a 1/4 inch between the steel and the bottle so that the bubbles can escape. take a long bolt and JB weld it to the center of the steel. The bolt will hold the steel from falling down in the jar. Hopefully that makes sense. IF not shoot me an email. I would just fill the minwax to the top of the scales making sure that there is a good 2 inches of empty bottle. That will give the minwax some room to move. Good luck !
Thanks for the compliments. Much appreciated. Yes it does help to have descent grinder thats for sure. Well get busy and lets see some of your efforts :-) Shane |
#5
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Yeah trial & a lot of errors. Don't make the same ones more than 4-5 times each.
I use minwax in a 2 quart mason jar and pull a vac with a brake bleeder hand pump.Use fresh minwax so it doesn't discolor the horn. Finish with thin super glue if you are doing a natural horn finish. Use a powder free vynil glove FINGER. Yeah just cut one off and use it to rub the super glue on. Takes 2-3 coats I usually rub it out with white scotch brite between coats. use lightly. just take off the sharp knobs. A coat of most wax finishes will put on good shine on. That's the way I do it Take Care TJ __________________ TJ Smith Knifemaker |
#6
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What happens to the bone if you don't stabilize it?
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#7
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Hi TJ, Hi Exude,
Thanks for the recipe. I will try it out again and hopefully won't blow myself up. :> Exude, do you mean bone or antler. If antler, the white tail and some other kinds are soft in the middle, pith I think its called, and you have to almost core it out and fill epoxy to get a good stable fit. The outside will eventually start to deteriorate over time and will begin to look ratty depending on the amount of use. Bone, no idea, always buy it stabilized. Thanks, Todd |
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