Finishing Stag Horn

[Frank Eaton]

Any advice on cleaning/ finishing stag horn? I have tried bleaching it, and buffing but it takes away that neat soiled look. Thanks

 

[Gossman Knives]

Not sure what you mean by stag horn. If you are refering to bone stag or bone jigged like stag, when I finishing sanding it to where I want it I use a propane torch with light flame to burn it and make it look aged, then I buff as usual and wipe any black marks from buffing with Oops cleaner.
Scott

 

[bradley hooper]

I am still pretty new at making knives, but assuming you are talking about antler, depending on what color you are wanting, you can use iodine to bring some color back to it. Using a higher percentaged iodine will give you a browner color. Where as using a lower percentaged iodine will make the stag turn yellow. But burning it is also a great idea.

 

[Frank Eaton]

I am referring to antler, thanks for the advice guys.

 

[Wild Rose]

After using various finishes on antler and bone for over 30 years in my experience the best thing is Fiebings leather dye - use various shades of brown and even black to get the color you want. Rub it on and let it dry. After drying use a coarse cloth to rub off any excess. If the color is to your satisfation use a coat or two of wax or my favorite - a 50/50 mix of artist grade linseed oil and artist grade turpentine. A couple of thin coats - let dry completely between coats.

Do a search for CactusRose and you'll find several examples.
here's a couple of examples - the top and bottom knives are antler and the middle one is deer bone:

hope this helps

 

[Fox Creek]

Potassium Permanganate in water works well on good pieces of Mule or White Tail deer antler. 'gives just the right brown, black color. It is hard to find these antlers that are just right for knife handles. They seem to curve too much and vary in cross section too much. If you rasp/file down to creamy inner layer, then they often turn out too yellow with PP alone. The leather dye works well in this situation. On the "full grain" stuff, PP works well, and can stand a lot of hard rubbing back with fine steel wool before waxing. . I understand that the genuine Sambar Stag fron India was routinely treated in PP, as a sterilizer. ...dont know whether that is true or not. Oh, and if you soak an antler crown in a can of PP for a few hours, you will need to give a week or two to dry out. It will absorb water and swell. If you finish it then , it will loosen up in time, the pins will stand proud of the surface, and ther ferrules become over size.

 

[TJ Smith]

I use the potassium permanganate but don't soak the antler in it . Use a fine little brush and just paint some in the low spots and some streaks. Yeah I know its purple but it turns the nicest brown when dry. Easy does it a little goes a long way. After its dry I put a finger from a vynil glove on and give it a coat of super glue. just rub it on and not to thick. when your finger starts sticking add a little glue. 2 coats should do it. If its to shiney use a white scotch brite pad to tone it down a little. NO sanding no buffing. Add a little renassiance wax to finish up.
My $.02
Take Care
TJ

 

[Frank Eaton]

Thanks folks, I will try some of these techniques, as I don't have one of my own. Where can you get PP?

 

[Whit]

Potassium permanganate can be found cheap on eBay. I realized this after I paid much more for it at the Blade Show this summer.

 

[Frank Eaton]

Thanks alot!!!

 

[bradley hooper]

I asked Bruce Evans, the guy who is instructing me, and he said that the leather dye might go too deep if you want to save some of the white and that normal brown or black Kiwi shoe polish after you have lit it up to a liquid would dye it pretty well and still let you grind or sand down to some of the white area!