Hi gang,
A man just pulled into my driveway and dropped me off three huge boxes of antlers. Moose, Whitetail Deer, Mule deer, and Black tail Deer. There must be at least 50 or 75 sets of antlers. He heard that I was a carver and he was clearing out his shed and wanted to get rid of them. He said when he was younger and living out west they would walk the fields in the spring and look for them. Now my question has anyone ever carved antler and if so is there any reference material ie. books or websites on how to carve them. I did a seach and all I could find was sites with them already carved. I am not sure where to begin I know I cant carve them with a knife and gouge I tried much too hard. I would probably guess that power carving is the way to go. I do have a fordum and dremel but not sure what kind of bits to use, ruby, diamond, etc. Any help would be really appreciated I am quite exicited about trying them. BTW I have hid them in the rafters in the shop if the Mrs sees them she will go beserk she is always at me to get rid of all the wood and bark I collect.
Colin

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

You can always make whistles out of them! LOL

[squbrigg]

Hi Colin,

You need to power carve them for sure, and wear protective breathing mask, cause the dust is really nasty stuff. I haven't carved them myself, but have seen them done.....a Native carver up this way does them. Most burrs will work on them Colin, with so many, just play around with one first as a trial, and give them a go. They polish up beautifully and take amaizing detail! Have fun with them, try a spirit in one and show us how you make out. That big Maple one of yours is beautiful work, well done.

Bob

[Kenny_S]

I have carved small key chains and soaked them in water for log periods of time, A couple hours and try to keep them wet at all times. Of course I useda knife and the carvings were small.

Colin,

Haven't tried antlers yet myself, been bidding on ebay for various moose antlers.

There are some great web sites on antlers like you said, I myself really enjoy Shane Wilson's work. You should visit the site, yes power carving all the way, he has a great gallery, and also a carving progress page, from that you can get a great feeling on how he does it.

www.shanewilson.com

Good luck with your project. Coffeeman

Started a large antler last summer. Didn't use a good enough mask and got infection in my nose. Antler is loaded with bacteria. I used my dremel cause I didn't want to burn out my foredom. The dremel is fine and I did some cutting right through. Used a tungsten carbide bit. A little slow going. I have a turbo carver and that works really good but I am having compressor problems that I haven't resolved. This spring I buildt a box with cut-outs in front for my hands, a fan in the back and a cover with an old storm window on top. Haven't had the chance to use it yet. Lots going on and weather has been an issue. Being my first one, it was starting out better than I thought. I carved a scene in the palm of mine. Really only have finish work to do on it. Looking forward to getting back to it. Good luck Colin. Pam

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Even with the box, use a face mask! Not worth the risk!

Definitely use a mask
I have not actually carved an antler but have used them for handles on some sticks and canes

I sanded them with my Dremel and the fine dut was awefull

When I finished sanding them and attached them to the sticks
I coated them with pollyurthene
turned out pretty nice

[Colin_Partridge]

Thanks for all the advice and you can be sure I will use a dust collector and a mask. I dont have a lot of power bits and I know nothing about power carving. What kind of bits should I use for antler's?
Colin

[Smokey]

There appears to be one subject that hasn't been addressed, and that is the physical attributes of antler itself. I have been waiting for someone who is more verbally articulate and more experienced, than myself to cover the topic. Carving bone and in most cases, antler is often a new challenge (and a suprise) for a person more used to solid wood. The suprise comes when you dont plan for the soft, open cells in the center. Much of the carving must be done with this in mind, because you never can plan on when you will 'go to deep'.

I would liken the experience to attempting to carve a piece from the center cardboard of a roll of paper towels. That is, you usually have from 3mm to 8mm of antler before you find the very porous, soft, blood supply formation, in the center of the antler. The good carveable material is of course thicker near the bi-furcations, base, and tips. Moose is of course a lot thicker, with Elk being the thickest, and desert deer being the thinnist.( The thickness and quality is in direct relation to the quality of the available food supply).

When sanding antler--I would suggest never going more course than 180 grit to start, then proceed up to 400. Again, the hardest material is on the exterior, and gets harder to sand with finer grits, as you approach the softer interior.

Carving is quicker with motor carvers, but has been accomplished for thousands of years by hand instruments. I normally use carbide bits in either Dremel or Foredom, but it seems that I usually finish up or do the detail work with a set of rifflers and a bench knife,( more of a 'scraping process ' than one of carving. (modification) I forgot to mention that the bit that I find most useful, is one that resembles an inverted Christmas tree( with the top of the tree nearest the shank). This is now the only 'motor tool bit' that I use.

Well, I hope that this helps shed a little light on your initial questions.