... ANTLER POWDER MEASURE

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  .... messing around in the shop yesterday,... Friend made me this measure about 40 years ago,... was just a chunky antler tip bored out to hold 60 grains 2F,... back when we all thought we had to shoot .54cal Hawken rifles,.. !!!... no decoration,... decided to "fancy" it up a bit,... here is result,.... wanting to "antique" it,... comments encouraged on darkening the lines and creating a more "coffee" color on entire measure,... Thanx, boys,... will post finished photos later,....Regards,... Cades Cove Fiddler ........   

[hanshi]

Looks good to my eyes, already.

[TN Longhunter]

Strong brewed tea, let it soak. Take out often to check color.

[Greg Pennell]

Looks good, Mr. Fiddler. It was recently suggested to me (at the Knoxville show) that coffee or tea would both work to darken antler.  What could possibly go wrong, it’s all natural!

Greg

[Arcturus]

I found that soaking in tea and coffee for a good while resulted in a slight darkening of antler, but not a really brown dyeing.  Then I added some white vinegar to a coffee grounds/tea bag mixture and a much deeper, more durable brown color resulted without soaking very long at all.  Just like with Easter eggs, vinegar helps the dye adhere.

[hanshi]

In an attempt, mostly successful, to straighten some very curvy antler pieces, I soaked them in white vinegar for a couple of weeks and then put them in a vice with a board on each side to protect them.  After they dried they were very dark brown.  I would think adding vinegar to tea/coffee should work just fine.  I believe the vinegar pulled out much of the collagen in the antler since there was some gelatin clumps in the liquid.  So far, can't see any problems.   

[Arcturus]

Here are a few shots from my phone camera of the coffee/tea stain with vinegar. A "before" pic while I was still working on them, and after staining. The pics don't capture the color exactly but are close.  I rubbed back the higher areas on the "banded" one with green scotchbrite.

[Marcruger]

I'd start with the hot tea soak.  After you get it where you want it, I'd rub dark brown BriWax into the cracks to accent the carving work.  Hope this helps.   God Bless,   Marc