Antler opinel help.

A

Atkins72

Joined
Nov 6, 2012
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Not sure if this is the right place for this question but here goes.

I have been tinkering with putting an antler handle on an opinel. So far I'm having trouble getting the antler turned down to fit the interior ring without a lathe.

Any ideas on how to get the end of the antler sized to take the ring and locking ring without a lathe?

I have tried just sanding it down to shape but it is very difficult to keep the same diameter.

Thank you
 
could you mount the antler to some dowel, and then place the dowel in a drill. Use sand paper to sand it down? Would probably be pretty smelly though.
 
Machinists use something to mark the piece so that when the ring is pushed on, it shows the high spots. I saw a How It's Made on shotguns and they had a little flame that soot blackened the piece to show the high spots. You can do the same thing with your antler and sand it down a little at a time. Go slow, fortunately it's not a big piece & won't take too long. Flame is probably not a good idea for your antler, but a Dry Erase marker would probably do the same thing.

I never thought that I would possibly find a way to use a lathe until I got one. Now I can't imagine doing without one. Even a tiny one like I have is the most useful tool in my shop.

Allen
 
The trouble I'm having I'd keeping the same diameter on a lo g enough section to accept the retaining ring.
 
Try using a file or rasp, or a block with your sandpaper. That will help with making a straight tenon. Draw the circle on the end of your piece and carefully work the tenon down to the line. If you can find one, the hole saw is a good idea. Clamping the handle firmly in place will be the challenge. Industrial supply dealers like McMaster-Carr or any good machinist's supply house should have a wide range of hole saws available. There are tenon and dowel cutters used in woodworking that might work, but would be a fairly big investment for a one-off handle. But if you've got a neighbor who is a well equipped woodworker...
 
Isn't the end for the locking ring tapered?

Maybe you could rough it out with a file and then fit sandpaper into a locking ring and go to town. If you had an old locking ring you could fit it to a dowel or tack weld it to a steel rod and use sandpaper, valve grinding compound, sand, something inside of it and use a hand drill with it.

I have no idea if any of those ideas would work, You'd have to get your hands into them.


You could just fit antler "scales" on to an existing "frame". Once it's all epoxied up it's pretty strong.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/817090-Opinel-mods/page3?highlight=opinel
 
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