Antler Handle Question

I just bought some deer antlers from a fellow off of Ebay. I intended to use them for antler handles on knives.Several are white which was cool I thought!
I am trying to decide which one to use and where to cut the antler for this knife I am presently working on.
After closer examination one of the white one has alot of hairline cracks. Since I am new to this I am not sure, but that doesn't look good to me! :shake: Should this one be used for knife handles, and if not is it good for anything? Do those surface cracks go all the way thru?
Most of the white ones have some small hairline cracks! Did I just buy a box of junk or is that more normal with white horns?
Is it normal to use a sealer over the finished handle and if so what is commonly used?
Any advice or tips in this subject would be greatly appreciated!
This is my first venture into antler handles and I am feeling a little lost! :hmm:

Sounds like sun bleached sheds. They will work fine, but will look best on a knife that is antiqued. You can use leather dye on them, if you like. You also may want to soak the grip in neatsfoot oil, or mineral oil, after you get them on the the blade, but do this after you dye them or the dye may not take well.

Thanks for the advice. Some are definitly sun bleached sheds. Two I got are brown and a matched set. My big worry was they cracks going all the way thru and making the handle weak! :grin:

Cracks rarely go all the way through on sheds. However, they can be a problem. You may want to use another antler for a project, at least until you gain experience in cutting and dying them. I do believe that soaking them after they are dyed or stained can help keep cracks from occuring or widening.

The set this handle came from hung on a barn for several years before I used them, they have lots of very small cracks in them but it hasn't hurt a thing. I rub it down with Neatsfoot oil from time to time and have carried it for about ten years now without a problem, use them.
Jeff

Thanks, Wick, Paul, and CH! After cutting the antler off I could see depth of cracks. Not near as bad as I assumed.This one used is probably the worst cracked, but it seemed like it was right for this knife.
I know your already saying he's crazy! This morning while I was having coffee I layed all my antlers out on the bar. I would get me swig of joe and turn an antler one way and then another way, trying to decide which one to use, or where to cut it from! The one with the worst cracks, was the one that just kept saying;(use me)! :youcrazy:
I will post pics when I get this knife finished! So everybody can tell me what I done wrong! :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

Coffee, will also give it a nice color. Save your left over until you have enough to cover the antler piece. Stronger, the better.

If you plan on polishing the antler handle, you can also soak it with super glue.That will fill all the gaps and cracks, and leave a nice finish when sanded and buffed. Anothe roption is to soak them in a canning jar with thinned Minwax wood hardener and some dye or stain. Ive seen them done both ways and they came out nice.

Thanks for the ideas guys, keep them coming! :thumbsup:
Been thinking of ways to fill cracks and strengthening. Don't know it I can really buff this one out! :hmm: I guess that depends on how you would buff it out. Its from the crown at the head and has alot of bumps on it! Don't want to sand those out and lose the character of it! :haha:

50cal.cliff said:

Thanks for the ideas guys, keep them coming! :thumbsup:
Been thinking of ways to fill cracks and strengthening. Don't know it I can really buff this one out! :hmm: I guess that depends on how you would buff it out. Its from the crown at the head and has alot of bumps on it! Don't want to sand those out and lose the character of it! :haha:

Click to expand...

Realy, Tea and Coffee stain bone, and antlers as well as white shirts ! We are not kidding about using these two common substances to stain antlers, and horn. Often, they produce a really nice stain. If I had a very wide crack in an antler, I would take Wicke's advise and use epoxy resin to fill it. If I had antler dust from sanding another part of the antler, I would save that dust to mix in the epoxy to fill the crack.

Of small cracks, those are age lines, and deserved to be highlighted, and not hidden or buried under lots of dye or glue. Thse small cracks give the bone character-- I am not sure whose--- but its give it character! :rotf: Stain the antler to the color you like, and then finish it with oil finishes, or varnishes. I like oil because it will soak in somewhat, and fill the pores in the bone at the surface. you can then polish the bone to a nice shine, and then put a coat of wax on it to add some protection from water, and even the sun.

Can't wait to see your pictures.

Sun Bleeched Sheds with crack are my favorite...

I usually slab them to scales providing the wall thicknes appears to be thick to where the marrow cavity will not appear on the finished handle.

Once I determain that they will work, I install them to the knife,file then till they appear like a piece of aged Ivory. Then I slop indian ink all over them prior to finishing them to size. Let the ink dry over night ,then squeeze super glue (the thin stuff ) in to the cracks. Then file them to size,sand to 600 grit or higher to bring the shine out about what it would be if i were using real Ivory..Nothing matches the beauty of polished sun breeched antler on the right knife design...IMO.

Send them to me if you have second thoughts. :rotf:

T B.

To Paul I truly did believe you all about the tea & coffee. I know you all wern't just fuunin me.I have stained many a rug and a few shirts, the seat of my truck, and a few other things, with a cup of coffee!
The super glue sounds good for sealing some of the cracks. Nice try Twice Boom but, I am over the inital shock and believe that leaves you sucking wind on that idea! :blah: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

My problem comes in the fact the antler has lots of lines (grooves) lengthwise, bumps, hairline cracks and the crown,(you know character)!
How do I buff and not destroy that character? Buff with what?????
Here is my thought's, see what you all think of these ideas:
After examing the antler I am not worried about the hairline cracks.
I would like to buff the antler somehow though, as this should help to clean and will let the coffee/stain get more of a bite.
After the coffee/stain dries, oil with neatsfoot and see how that looks.
What you all think about that, sounds like a plan to me!!!
Now how to buff without destroying that beloved character??????? :youcrazy: :wink: :blah: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :youcrazy:

Use a cotton buffing wheel. You don't need to use polishing rouge on the wheel, but just the plain wheel at high speed. That will buff a high gloss finish to the antler, while leaving the character of the bone quite evident. YOu can put wax on the antler, if you want a shine like you get on highly polished shoes, or furniture. If you don't have a high speed table grindstone on a bench, or stand, you can make due with a high speed hand drill held in a bench vise. Or in a pinch, find a friend to sit on it to hold it firmly while you work the antler into the buffing wheel to polish it.

50 cal. You can't fault me for being hopeful. :rotf:

U see I want to make one of these.[url] http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p28/voutsi/DSCF0028.jpg[/url]

darn it :rotf: :thumbsup:

That's a beaut! Is it one of yours?
I felt like I knew what you were talking about, by your descripton. I used the whole antler on this handle, and hey I don't blame you for trying!! :rotf: :rotf: :thumbsup:

Gotcha Paul, I knew there had to be something A fellow could use, just didn't know what that was. I figured if I didn't have any answers this morning I would do a little experimenting today! :hatsoff:

That's okay 50. cal I have two five gallon buckets full of the stuff.I was only funning ya. :thumbsup:
Yes ,that's one of mine..

You recieved some very good suggestions. My idea of a what a knife handle aught to be veries from knife to knife. One thing I do not do is to paint on any sealents .My reasoning is that I want the knife handle in bone or antler to take on that wonderful aged look kind of naturallike. Waxes make the knife handle slick and knife handles need not be that especially when wearing gloves..

Bring out those beautiful stress cracks by the indian ink method,walnut stain,magic markers,brewed tea or coffee or all at the same time. But never set it in the coffee or tea pot to boil , the chances are too great that the cracks will expand or the antler fall apart..

Just something else to think on..
T.B.

Hye, no one said anything about putting bone into boiling tea or coffee! The dyes or stain in these drinks work cold, just as well, and you don't take the chance of drying out the bone further, and really cracking it. Just dip a swab into the tea or coffee, and rub the stuff on the bone. Let it dry, and then polish it down. If you only want to fill in the cracks to highlight them, then sand or polish down the bone until you are back to " white " again. That will leave the cracks with the only stain.

I have seen some bone " aged " with oils from hands and you may not always like the outcome. It depends on what the hands are holding, or using, and what they have on them before coming into contact with that unfinished bone handle. Grease and dirt make the handle JUST LOOK dirty and greasy, and they are hard to get out unless you use an alcohol based cleaner. That further endangers the bone toward cracking.

My Dad made bone slabs for some knives, and rubbed cooking oil into the slabs to seal them. The bone turned a natural yellow condition, and looked okay. Whenever washing the knives bleached out the slabs, he would rub more oil into them, set them aside to dry, and then wipe off any excess. The bone was not slick, because he didn't try to polish them to make them look like plastic.

Hey?
HMmmm. I went back and reread what I wrote . I can't find anything where I said anyone suggested to boil the antler in a coffe or tea pot..
What I said was intended only as a caution,in case anyone was thinking of doing that.

Coffee with a side of antler,..........ah No! I have tried some strange concoctions in my days, but think I'll pass on this one. Is this what they mean when they say, "he got the horn"! :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: