Make a deer antler brush yourself

[Neep]

I have made quite a few brush handles on the lathe, but yesterday and today I thought I would have a go at a couple in deer antler (no lathe required).

Here follows a step-by-step tutorial on how to do it. It is really quite easy.

First, the two finished brushes.
Burnt Fallow Deer Antler with Silvertip Badger.

Here is yesterday's completed brush, alongside the other fallow deer antler of the pair I bought.

It is a lot of antler, and you might just get two brushes out of one antler.
Here you can see that the first cut is just above the crown, and the brush is aligned where it came off the crown.

For deer antlers, see eBay! The little roe deer ones are not big enough for a shaving brush. Antlers usually come up in pairs, but sometimes as singles. Some big antlers are presentation pieces, and horribly expensive, but you should be able to pick up a pair for about £40 or less including postage. Enough for 2 or perhaps 4 brush handles depending on the diameter.

Here is the next section off the same antler. Antler saws very easily with a hacksaw. The diameter is smaller, but just big enough to take a badger knot. It is shown here set up in a drill press vice with a 22mm forstner bit about to do its stuff. (22mm because that is the size of the silvertip badger knots that I have). Drilling it is a bit smelly, but quite easy. You go down in depth to a bit more than the head of the drill bit.

The hole drilled. This second cut piece of antler was only just big enough. Note that I drilled the hole off centre. On the right side, the antler had a concave shape, and if I had drilled closer to that side then there would have been a danger of breaking out the side near the bottom of the hole.

The scruffy piece of antler. Here I have used a rasp to file off the corners, otherwise they would be too sharp in the hand when using the brush. The eagle eyed amongst you will notice some white stuff in the teeth of the rasp. Thats because she who must be obeyed was at home the other day when I needed the cheese grater to reduce the size of a shaving soap puck to fit in my scuttle. So I used this rasp instead. Don't be disappointed if the antler you buy looks gungy, dirty and uninteresting like this. We can play with it.

You will notice that the cut ends of the antler are very cellular and porus, like this.

So what you do is seal the ends. Here I am using superglue, which soaks in and sets rock hard. It takes quite a while to dry! Leave it for a couple of hours and then file the end smooth. (An alternative would be to use polyurethane varnish to fill those pores, but it will take a lot of coats).

While I am at it, I put some inside the bottom of the hole too.

To be continued next post...

 

[mattlad]

Damn! I've got to wait until next week's episode!:icon_cry2:

 

[Neep]

Now we start work on that dirty boring antler surface....

Some parts will have nice "grain", other parts will be plain (and dirty).
Use a medium file to start working on it... take the dirt off the plain parts so that they are white, and just skim the tops off the interesting parts to show the white.

Note that this piece has some gouges in it at almost right angles to the natural grain. I could have filed them down, but they were pretty deep, so I left them. They are the result of this stag having been in a fight with another! Its a natural feature, and leaving them gives an added point of interest.

Once you are down to this stage, start sanding. First with 120 grit sandpaper, then 240 grit, 400 grit and 600 grit. It sands very easily and quickly. It is also starting to look a bit more interesting.

Now comes the intersting part. This is an old trick used in making antler knife handles. You burn it. The antler is gripped in an adjustable wrench (in the hole), and then moved over a gas flame. You could use a blow torch, but it is a bit vigorous, and you have more control over a gas ring. Open the windows and do this operation when the lady of the house is out. It smells a bit.

The trick is to keep the antler moving over the flame tips. Keep ckecking it, until you are happy with the amber coloured surface, and more black towards the ends. Leave some parts of the central area white. You don't want to char the ends too much, otherwise the burnt antler becomes too brittle.

Now. It is HOT, and it takes a long while to cool down! A long while.

But the end result looks something like this. Note the unburnt white areas in the centre.

Nearly there. Next comes the sanding. Start with 400 grit and then 800 grit sandpaper, and it becomes very smooth.

Next I use a product called "Micromesh". It comes in little square pads. A set of pads come in different grades, right down to 12,000 grit. I start with 1500 grit, and work through them. They are best used under a running tap, otherwise they clog up and become useless. (My set is now 4 years old and has been used a lot!). You will see that they create a brown slurry as you sand. That's some of the burnt surface coming off. It only needs around 20 seconds sanding with each pad.

By the time you get to the 12,000 grit pad, the white of the antler (and the amber and black parts) will be shiny like a tooth. There is no need for any other coating or finishing on the brush handle. (note that I mark my micromesh pads with a sharpie to identify them, even though they each have a different colour).

Micromesh pads can be bought from here at £7.99.
Turners Workshop

One last thing to do before you can glue in your brush knot. Test fit the knot, and now you will find that it probably won't fit into the hole. That's because of the heat and messing about. You will need to scrape the sides of the hole just a little all the way round. I use a three sided scraper (as seen below), but a pen knife blade will do the job fine. Just make the hole big enough that the base of the brush knot will be an easy fit, leaving room for the glue.

Last part to follow next post....

 

[Neep]

Time has come to glue in the badger knot....

Test fit the knot again. Scraping the walls will probably result in an easy fit when the knot is rotated in one position but too tight in another position. Note where the best fit is, and put the knot down noting where it aligns best in the handle hole.

Mix up a small amount of 2 part epoxy, and put a thin coating in the bottom of the hole and the walls of the hole. You don't need a lot, and make sure none gets on the outside surfaces. Insert the knot, grasp the hairs tightly and give it a little shuffle of a twist to spread the glue. If the fit was too tight, then the air pressure inside will want to push it out again! Check it after a minute and re-seat it if necessary.

The base of the knot will be just beneath the surface of the hole, and the hairs will appear as if they are stuck into the hole, with no glue showing.

When it has dried - 5 minute epoxy takes longer than 5 minutes to become hard - give the brush a good (dry) scrub on your hand. Some hairs will come out. With a new brush they always do (even during the first week of real use). There won't be many loose ones, but there will be some.

A good source of silvertip knots
(same place as the micromesh)
22mm knots from here
(He also does 24mm and 26mm knots)

There you go... two finished brushes from one antler. Two more to go from the other antler.

I especially like the one on the left, because although it "leans", both ends are at right angles to the diameter of the curved piece of antler. Both feel really good in the hand.

.

Note the "battle scars" on this second brush.
The burnt surface adds lots more interest than the plain grey/brown antler.

.

Rod

ps. For another time: making a brush handle in wood or polyester acrylic on a lathe.

 

[Robert Otten]

Neep --- Rod --- that was just wonderful. I'm going out to the studio now to get a pair of White Tail Deer Antlers I've had stashed for 20 something years; must check them out. Appreciate your time and effort and for the most informative process post I've read in some time. Unique. Thanks again.

All the best from the Pacific Northwest, Robert

 

[Arrowhead]

Excellent Rod, thank you for posting that. Next time a deer comes within bowshot, I'll be right on it

 

[Fido]

I worry about publicising my badger brushes in the New Forest. Deer antler brushes, now that's a thought. Wonder if I'd get away with that round here.

Great post Rod.

 

[Robert Otten]

I worry about publicising my badger brushes in the New Forest. Deer antler brushes, now that's a thought. Wonder if I'd get away with that round here.

Great post Rod.

Isn't that where you get your badgers Fido?

:icon_rolleyes:Which reminds me I must PM you because I need a Tubby; if available. I should post elsewhere. Very nice how to do custom brush article with deer antlers. I'm in Elk Country so I'm gonna go lookin. Time to hit the sack. Regards, Robert

 

[MandoBear]

And there was I thinking all you needed to do was shoot the thing and use the tail. :icon_rolleyes:

Lovely work, Rod.

 

[Pete]

Great post Rod, thank you.

 

[mattlad]

I'm impressed!

 

[antdad]

Very nicely done, I'm surprised I quite like them.

 

[moodymick]

I must also add my congratulations on a great post. I do quite like them, particularly their tactile-ness, though I was surprised you only look at getting 2 per antler.

Just hope it was killed in a humane manner and provided lots of venison burgers:-/

 

[Neep]

I must also add my congratulations on a great post. I do quite like them, particularly their tactile-ness, though I was surprised you only look at getting 2 per antler.

Fallow deer antler tapers off to an oval shape pretty quickly. There's only about 3" of the antler capable of taking a 22mm brush knot. That second piece from the antler only just made it. 25mm wide in one direction, and 33mm in the other. At the base it is an oval 24mm x 42mm.

I have just bought some red deer antler on eBay, and that looks as though I might get more out of each one.

Rod

 

[Tall_Paul]

Very interesting Rod, and a beautiful end product.

 

[Blyth Spirit]

That was a terrific post Rod, well played. The brushes look absolutely fantastic....

You'll have Ray Mears hammering on your door, before too long!