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Author Topic: Straigthening deer antler  (Read 4896 times)

Horner75

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Straigthening deer antler
« on: March 15, 2016, 12:08:40 AM »
Does anyone have any experience straightening deer antler? .. Someone mentioned a while back that you can do it by soaking it in vinegar.  Is that true or another urban legion floating around?

We feeble minds want to know!
Rick
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Offline Shovelbuck

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Re: Straigthening deer antler
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2016, 04:27:51 AM »
Rick, I tried it on a piece I was going to use for a knife handle. After a couple days of soaking, it wouldn't bend and I had ruined a good piece of antler. :(

Jay
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I don't hunt the hard way, I hunt a simpler way.

Offline valongrifles

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Re: Straigthening deer antler
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2016, 04:39:33 AM »
Antler is calcium, so it stands to reason that a pressure cooker may soften it up, but then would it get hard again?
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Offline Daniel

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Re: Straigthening deer antler
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2016, 04:45:36 AM »
 I have boiled them before in water. Then slowly clamped them. Can't get it perfect.
The Fox Indians boiled them to straighten and used them as war points on arrows.
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Daniel     Ecc.4:12

Offline Ky-Flinter

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Re: Straigthening deer antler
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2016, 05:07:34 AM »
Quote from: Horner75 on March 15, 2016, 12:08:40 AM
Does anyone have any experience straightening deer antler? .. Someone mentioned a while back that you can do it by soaking it in vinegar.  Is that true or another urban legion floating around?

We feeble minds want to know!
Rick

Hi Rick,

Yes, it's true and I have done it.  Check this post for 2 knives I made with antler pieces I straightened some using vinegar soak.  http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=27428.0

I wasn't able to get them perfectly straight, nor did I want to.  The biggest drawback to the vinegar soak method is the surface of the antler gets very soft and will get damaged when you press the antler in your vice, even with wood pads.  If you want to keep the natural, gnarly, bumpy antler surface, don't use vinegar, but it's no problem if you intend to smooth the antler surface as I did on the 2 knives.

-Ron
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Ron Winfield

Life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun. -Nate McKenzie

Horner75

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Re: Straigthening deer antler
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2016, 06:43:33 AM »
Thanks Ron, The proof is in the pudding!  Someone also told me that you can do it by using a pressure cooker.

Rick
« Last Edit: March 16, 2016, 06:44:38 AM by Horner75 »
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Offline Tim Crosby

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Re: Straigthening deer antler
« Reply #6 on: March 16, 2016, 04:41:01 PM »
 Rick, I have used the Vinegar method and it does work. Here is a link to a post I did back in '09. I still have one of the pieces and it is as straight as it was then.

 http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=3848.msg38515#msg38515





  Tim C.
 
« Last Edit: March 16, 2016, 05:02:11 PM by Tim Crosby »
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Horner75

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Re: Straigthening deer antler
« Reply #7 on: March 16, 2016, 06:54:06 PM »
Tim,  Read and saw the post you did and now I am convinced.  Going to try the vinegar method later.

Thanks everybody!
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Offline Top Jaw

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Re: Straigthening deer antler
« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2016, 02:23:21 AM »
With horn, I prefer hot oil for sizing (325-350 deg). 
Has anyone used hot oil to try to straighten an antler??
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