deer antler ferrules

poolshooter74

poolshooter74

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
should the grain of the antler run vertical or horizontal?
if the grain runs vertical does it increase the chances of splitting?

thanks for any input!
 
poolshooter74 said:
should the grain of the antler run vertical or horizontal?
if the grain runs vertical does it increase the chances of splitting?

thanks for any input!
Click to expand...

same as the grain in the wood in the cue,
lengthwise
i use mine to break with too
granted, i do break like a girl :grin:
if it's good solid bone, you'll be fine
 
I agree completely with Brent (BHQ) :thumbup:

I use one on my break cue as well - I break harder than a girl, but not like some of the guys I see.

My 2 cents,

Gary
 
BHQ said:
same as the grain in the wood in the cue,
lengthwise
i use mine to break with too
granted, i do break like a girl :grin:
if it's good solid bone, you'll be fine
Click to expand...

How can it go sideways?
The marrow goes to the side and you make a T-shaped tenon?
Joey~confused~
 
I used to have buck horn on some shafts. I played a lot with it and I have to be honest, I did not like it. The ferrules I had did not seem consistent. Could have been fractured and I was just unlucky. but both of them felt funny to me. But they polish out real nice and are dark.
 
Buck horn is a very strong, natural material. Indian stag horn is what traditionally had been used until it became illegal to be exported from India. Most people now try using white-tail buck horn but they are usually to small as the tines are the only solid parts. The larger beams are full of mushy marrow. Mule deer have larger horns if they can be attained. I don't like buck horn as they are a heavier material and deflect the cue ball more than many other ferrule materials.

Dick
 
If you use antler that has bee dropped, they polish to a grey-white color. If you use those from a deer that was shot, they polish out as a pinkish gray color. The reason being is that they still have dried blood in them...JER
 
ferrules, bone , antler

there are some of the deer family that has a good solid type bone for antlers, first being berasingha which is the hardest then caribou which has some solid then moose but very small amount of solid then mule deer and the first tine is the most solid and whitetail wher the g1 or brow tine is the most solid but also the smallest so it would take a large whitetail to get good ferrules.
I was turning some out of the old westinghouse micarta last week and had use some alligator bone on a knife and was looking at the left over bone and saw a piece that I thought would be good for a ferrule. Alligator jaw bone is the hardest bone of all bar none. I think it is too heavy for a ferrule but it posishes out great, some purosity (sp) but very stable.
thats my 2 cents worth for what it is worth

Percy
 
dick

i think the stag from india is called " sambar stag " it is now off the endangered list and can be exported. most is very solid and polishes out great. very hard to find large enough for joint rings, but makes great ferrule.
in the last 5 years or so i have used, elk, white tail, moose, and sambar stag. if i could get pieces large enough the sambar would be my choice. i use moose if i am going to do buttcap, joint and ferrule, but if i am going to do just ferrule its sanbar 1st , with missouri deer antler 2nd.
 
they will be sheds, he is going to set up a trap of sorts, food under a picnic table so when they try and get the food they will bump their antlers on the table and hopefully shed them. he loves hunting so when i had mentioned antler ferrules he got pretty excited.

if i get some sheds, how long do they need to dry? it will be from a white tail buck deer! and installed on a regular mcdermott shaft.

thanks,
louis
 
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Sometimes you get lucky and find some deer antler that's snow white.

Joe
 

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depending on your state's game laws placing food with the intention of attracting deer is illegal. not sure how many cuemakers hunt but an easy free source of antler is to just go out and look for shed antlers. my boss goes out to wyoming every spring to go elk shed antler hunting with his wife and they usually come back with some good ones. you gotta get out early though because it doesnt take the squirrels, rabbits, and mice long to gnaw the antlers up once they've been dropped.
 
d.sommers said:
depending on your state's game laws placing food with the intention of attracting deer is illegal. not sure how many cuemakers hunt but an easy free source of antler is to just go out and look for shed antlers. my boss goes out to wyoming every spring to go elk shed antler hunting with his wife and they usually come back with some good ones. you gotta get out early though because it doesnt take the squirrels, rabbits, and mice long to gnaw the antlers up once they've been dropped.
Click to expand...

very good point. his teammate is a retired park ranger, we will have to ask him about this. thanks
 
snipershot said:
Sometimes you get lucky and find some deer antler that's snow white.

Joe
Click to expand...

The color of the antlers will depend on the tree or bush he uses to rub off the velvet. You will see the big difference in a mountain whitetail that rubs on pine, beautiful dark racks with white points like elk antlers.

Someone earlier mentioned marrow in antlers, no such thing. Antlers are calcified as the blood supply dies off. Antlers are a bone like material, horns are hairlike, much like fingernails, and are a shell that fits over the living core. Horns are not shed except on the pronghorn.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
robsnotes4u said:
The color of the antlers will depend on the tree or bush he uses to rub off the velvet. You will see the big difference in a mountain whitetail that rubs on pine, beautiful dark racks with white points like elk antlers.

Someone earlier mentioned marrow in antlers, no such thing. Antlers are calcified as the blood supply dies off. Antlers are a bone like material, horns are hairlike, much like fingernails, and are a shell that fits over the living core. Horns are not shed except on the pronghorn.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...

I believe instead of marrow its called pith. I've got a ton of unusable antler because it has pith all the way to the edge. Its useless as a ferrule or a joint. Now there are different species of deer that have far less pith in their antlers and those are the ones I seek out. Standard whitetail deer antlers seem to yield very very little useful product. Other species on the other hand can be solid all the way through, from the base to the tines and can yield enough for several cues from a single antler.

Joe
 
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