new idea (well atleast to me)

[ohioelcamino]

my job takes me to alot of homes, i am a property preservationist. i clean out foreclosed homes and do maintnance etc. on a recent cleanout i found a buck deer mount in the basement. unfortunately someone had busted the antlers off the mount and destroyed it. but they left the two front legs, so i saw this as a cool cane topper. i tried to bend one of them at the ankle and it doesnt budge a bit and i put some pressure on it hoping it would hold. so i thought once i find the right piece of wood i would attach it and then maybe do some leather work on it also. what does everybody think. and also has this been done before because i cant seem to find anything on it in the search. but i might have been looking in the wrong spot .

thanks

[Robson Valley]

Very, very slowly, you have to soften the dried out connective tissues of the foot. I suggest something like a vegetable steamer over warm water but don't boil the bejeezlies out of it. Just have to try to rehydrate enough of the connective tissues for a bend. Might take 24 hrs or more. Easy does it, go slow.
While that's cooking, make the jig to hold the foot in the new position. Might take a month to dry but who's waiting?

[ohioelcamino]

sorry i wasnt trying to put it in a different position i just wanted to see if it was strong enough that if weight was put on it , that it wouldnt snap downward. sorry if i confused.

[Marvin Little]

I have seen a few with deer feet on them. a friend put one foot on top for a handle and another on the bottom. Mostly I see antlers not feet.

Marvin

[JJireh]

Only thing I would be concerned with is wear and tear as a handle, the fur would eventually just wear off where your hand gripped it, then it would look like a zombie deer foot, which might be cool too

[Boydman]

I wouldn't mess with it! The hair is going to fall out in time. Do you have the second foot? I have seen coat racks and gun-racks made from the feet. If you had three you could make a lamp....but, like I said at first....wouldn't be my first choice for a stick....just my two cents!

[ochiba]

Deer feet were quite popular walking stick handles in Victorian times here in the UK. Stickmakers still use them when required,they go well in tourist attractions in Scotland,Wales And the Lake District in England.

Norm. Reeves.

[kev.b]

Norm
i have seen many a cane handle carved from wood into the shape of a deer hoof ,and even horse hooves look great too, but not too many actual feet themselves. dont know how well they will last but give it a go mate and let us know how it pans out.

[Waitpinga Whittler]

I'm with Kev... when in doubt, try it out! (And let us know how you went so we don't all have to re-invent the wheel).

[Boydman]

Hey Norm,

Just goes to show!....you are never too old to learn, I am with you....give it a try! You definitely have the finished shape for a handle....if that works....we have caribou here that would make an interesting handle....I will be making a handle from the ewe Dall sheep horns I have some day and will follow your experience with interest.

Greg