squirehawk1774
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- Mar 22, 2020
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I've posted this on some facebook groups and another forum page in the past. But for those that haven't seen this and like to make there own pieces this may help you some. I've seen examined over a hundred originals from super simple to really fancy. I was lucky enough to see Jim Dresslar's outstanding collection back when I was a young feller. Some folks will tell you they were made one way or another. I've seen enough to know they were as diverse back in the day and they are no hard and fast rules. I will tell you how most of the best ones were made though. Most antler measures had pretty thin walls at the opening. How thin most are less than 1/16". Most of the cavities are tapered from the mouth to the bottom. The thong holes can be tapered from each side like they were made using a knife and some have straight walls like they were drilled. I have found that soaking the antler in some hot tap water soften them up and it is easier to dig out the cavity. It will make it easier to engrave the surface also. I have a few tools that I use to do my antler work and you can see them in the photo below. If you do use a chisel like I do to dig out the cavity you need to be very carful or you will ruin your day in short order. I generally use a drill bit around 3/16" to make my starting hole for the cavity. For the thong hole I use something around an1/8" sometimes smaller depends on what will work. Sometimes I will use my knife to counter sink the thong hole to. I stain my measures when I'm happy with the shape and finish. I'm not going to get into the nitty gritty on staining and dyeing but will say this. I haven't found anything that I can say is the best. I have dyed multiple pieces with the same dye bath and will get a different color on each piece. Antler is like wood every one is unique and will work differently but similar. Here are a few of the measures that I have made over the years. Some are my own design and some are copies of old ones. I also have a drawing of how I do my measures to give a visual of how I go about things. Have fun and use you imagination making you next measure.
