Antler scales/slabs

[ldoyle]

Anyone here cut their own antler scales or slabs for handles . I really like the antler on handles , and hidden tang or full tang are not a problem , but trying find a straight piece to cut slabs from is proving pretty difficult .Also , if you make your own , I would assume you dig , grind the pith out and fill with colored ( ?white ? ) epoxy . Anyone willing to share how they do it ? Thanks for any replies .

 

[AlaskanHunter]

I'm in progress of making one from moose antler, so I'm subscribing in hopes of learning a thing or two.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bill DeShivs]

I just saw it off on the band saw.
I try to buy large enough pieces to get scales from. Elk antler works well for scales.
I'm told you can straighten antler by boiling it, but I haven't tried that.

 

[jdm61]

A few years back. Jerry Fisk told me that the trick he used was to saw carvers or rolls down the middle and remove what you needed form the flat sides for morticed hidden tang knives. IIRC, the other thing that he told me was that you are always better off using scales from the "inside curve" that are concave and griding down the guard end than trying to use convex ones which can be too fat in the middle.

 

[PARKERKNIVES]

Sound advice from Jerry right there . I use heaps of stag antler but here in Australia we have plenty of different species to try . We have Red deer , Fallow, Chital , Russa , Hog , Elk , some Sika and of course the mighty Sambar. I have used them all except the Sika. Some have more of the spongy pith than others , the most solid is Russa and Sambar. To keep the most pattern possible on the finished knife split the straightest pieces down the middle with the band saw. flatten them a bit on the belt grinder and then put your full tang handle on the inside of the scale. Draw around it and then profile the outer edge of the stag down to the pencil line. you will probably then have a white boarder that could be from a couple of mm to six mm thick , depending on the overall thickness of the stag. You can then grind the white inside surface down to where the white outer boarder disappears or the stag reaches your preferred thickness. Then glue and pin as you would on a normal handle material. If you are using Red deer or Elk you can hollow out the spongy pith and fill it with epoxy then process it as above.
If your doing partial tangs drill out the spongy pith and replace it with a good solid epoxy then drill scrape out and process as you would a piece of Micarta or wood. Obviously the bigger and thicker the better for slab handles and then you look for the popcorn pattern and good color if you can get it .

 

[john april]

if you are using scales and the cut end can be seen you can mix antler dust from sanding to color the epoxy to look more natural. mix it so its about as thick as toothpaste.

 

[WaltE99]

Does stabilizing the antler eliminate the need to drill out the pith?

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Does stabilizing the antler eliminate the need to drill out the pith?

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

NO.

Personally, I have never had problems with the pith. If the handle is a stick tang, I just drill it and use epoxy to anchor the tang. If it is a mortise handle, I cut make the mortise, and glue up with epoxy. IF scales, there is usually no pith to deal with. Any slight hollow on the underside of scales is often a plus as it allows more resin between the tang and the scales.

A trick for cutting antler is to cut the piece longer than needed . Place the piece on 4X1" board about 6-8" long. Align the antler piece so it is in the position you want the scales to be, and epoxy the ends to the board. When the resin is cured, saw the scales easily and safely by cutting down the board. This method is called a cutting sled, and is the best way to cut any irregular material. Use it to cut down logs, branches, ivory, antler, and other odd shaped objects.

 

[ldoyle]

Thanks Guy's. Lots of good tips there. I am thinking of coloring my epoxy with white or maybe better would be a off white , for any place it might show , but I'm sure iit would be hard to come close to a match to the horn.

 

[Hengelo_77]

use dust from the antler to colour the epoxy