Thanks,
And thanks for the interest.
I kinda do both.
I start out with the antler as that has the make or break variable, true it up, square the ends, then bore it out, and set it aside. Then the wood, same process except instead of boring it out I cut the appropriate tennon.
Since the wood is such a poor reciever for threads I have gone to the evil wood glue to mate the 2 halves and clamp them overnight, that gets them to the stage pictured below.
From there I again tru them up, together, and reduce them in size to the point that I can start laying out a design and cutting it in.
Actualy its a very involved process time wise as well as the initial outlay of cash for the raw materials, also the tooling. Once I get it down I will most likely sell or trade them off as I see fit, its nice to have trade goods.
The blank on the far right is Ebony, Cherry, and pre-ban Ivory. Am really looking forward to seeing the contrast once finished.
