Antler Handle Question

[Poorlymade]

My dad recently gave me some deer antlers, and asked me to make a couple of knives with antler handles for him to give as gifts to a couple of hunting buddies. I've been making knives for a couple of years now (still much to improve upon, mind you), but I've never done a deer antler.

Anyway, I found this ehow on a different way attach the handle, and was wondering if anyone could give me advice on whether this is a good idea. Is this an effective method for securely holding the handle to the tang? What are the chances of the tang coming loose in the future?

It seems attractive to try this method, because I don't think the antler pieces I have are big enough to splice down the center and make scales, and they are a bit more curved than I would like.

 

[jdm61]

Whitetail and other antlers have the reputation of being too "pithy" With that said, one of the guys who does a lot of traditional mountain man/reenactor style knives (I believe it was Wick Ellerbee) told me that if you burn in the tang, the heat actually changes the structure of he pith to a degree where it is a usable handle material. Your mileage may vary, but there it is.

 

[Poorlymade]

Whitetail and other antlers have the reputation of being too "pithy" With that said, one of the guys who does a lot of traditional mountain man/reenactor style knives (I believe it was Wick Ellerbee) told me that if you burn in the tang, the heat actually changes the structure of he pith to a degree where it is a usable handle material. Your mileage may vary, but there it is.

Thanks for the quick reply! What do you mean by burn in the tang? Heat it up and then insert it into the soaked pith?

 

[jdm61]

Thanks for the quick reply! What do you mean by burn in the tang? Heat it up and then insert it into the soaked pith?

yes, but dry pith. If pith gets wet, it has to be scraped out.

 

[Russ Andrews]

I've used some small mule deer crowns (no brow tine), and found that
they have more "shell" and less pith, the closer you are to the
crown. Also, the crown is a solid web which can be carefully shaped
without getting into the pith.