How to do Deer antler scales?

[mxlj]

I am new to knifemaking. I think i know how to make deer antler hidden tang knives. Looks pretty straight forward. But i can't find any info on how to properly make scales out of them for full tang knives and folders. What part of the antler is best for this (whitetail). How to smooth them out with out taking all of the natural 'ridges and valleys' out of them? and what else might need to be done? I may be over thinking this, but any help would be appreciated.

 

[JasonByers]

Its hard for me to find a good enough piece from a whitetail to make a good set of scales. There's just too much curvature for me so I use elk instead. As far as smoothing it out usually that's only done around the edges and if you have some big ridges or bumps a little smoothing on that won't effect the look too much it will just turn those areas white but some leather die and a paint brush will do the trick after. Any part of the antler would work fine its all pretty dang hard. The only thing to try to stay away from might be the porous material in the middle usually found in the main beam down to the crown. Its still pretty hard but just don't look too good and will soak up moisture if not sealed.

 

[mxlj]

thanks.

 

[tryppyr]

If you stabilize the antler, the center core isn't a problem... just a different look. It turned very dark on the antler I got processed. Very hard too, as it will mostly be polymer at that point.

As for smoothing, I have taken to using antler as bolster material. I smooth it down pretty well with sandpaper, and it still retains the ridges and natural colorings. You'll think you're scraping all the color away, but it somehow comes back... showing it was never removed. My advice would be to do some work on a piece you know you can't use just to see how far you can push the material.

By the way, don't be too quick to rush to the base of the antler. There's plenty of nice material above that can be used for several purposes. I haven't found a use for the tips yet... but I will.

- Greg

 

[12345678910]

By the way, don't be too quick to rush to the base of the antler. There's plenty of nice material above that can be used for several purposes. I haven't found a use for the tips yet... but I will.

- Greg

Keep one or more for forming and burnishing leather sheaths.

and this with the rest

Fire steel

 

[ScottRoush]

i've been doing them a lot lately. i have a million whitetail sheds to work with though.. and even then it's a challenge to find just the right piece. i just find something wider than what i need and do a combination of grinding from underneath and tapering from the top. and i use leather dye to stain the ground areas.

i think it's probably best to design your tang around the shape of your material in this case...

feel free to pm me...

btw... it's hard to tell, but that last one is scales too....

 

[mxlj]

Great looking knives and info. Thank you all.